Decking the Halls

Good morning, Everyone. It’s a cold and blustery Sunday on the south shore of Long Island. Suddenly, the trees are bare, and I have to zip up my coat and wear closed shoes outside. The days got shorter. Like everyone else, we crave for the light. It’s time to deck the halls. 

 It is usually up to me to pull from the attic, sort, disentangle, the Christmas decorations. Every December I promise myself to pack the menagerie in tidy and well-labeled bins so I wouldn’t have to spend most of the day searching and unjumbing strings of lights, and pieces of collected decor. I never do. By January 7th, everything is rolled up, and shoved into containers and brought back to their corner in the attic. 

Don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy the holiday fuss and bother. It is that one time of year to rearrange and shake up the same old look for the festive season. 

Once I pile everything on and around the dining room table, it is time to clutter the rooms with red, green, and gold. In years past, I crafted pine cone and cloth wreaths, cross stitched stockings,and sewed snow families and elf dolls (before the Elf-on-the-Shelf craze). Gifted centerpieces adorn shelves and tables. The nativity gets a safe perch since grandkids believe the ceramic figures are action figures. For years I set up and expanded a Dickens Christmas scene, complete with moving figurines and timed lights. Once I realized it took up more room than a tree and interfered with walking through rooms, I had to reduce and later donated the set.  

The outside displays offer twinkly beacons on these cold, short days. In our more abled bodied days, Matt strung up lights from the house gutters, tracing the outline of the house with colors. He blanketed the bushes with netted white lights simulating frost. He carefully plans out the length of extension cords, the load on the plugs, and figures out the timers. 

My dad hooked up those big drop lights along the front of my childhood home. He climbed up and down rickety ladders, changing a bulb and adjusting an extension cord. The one outdoor plug always held additions and extensions, but he somehow never popped the fuse. 

These days, climbing ladders and reaching over eves is not a good idea. Matt and I consented to those sparkly light show beams. We plant the projector on the front lawn and a light show dances on the house. 

The lights are up and brighten the short days. The tree is next. 

What are your holiday decorating traditions? 

That’s it, Everyone. Stay safe!

Thank yous go out to Natalie the Explorer who keeps the Weekend Coffee Share percolating each week.

Have a good week. Make it FUNTASTIC!

Enjoy ❤️.   Like 👍.  Share 😊. 

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