Maybe you’ve noticed it too–those outdoor decoration lights that are already strung up on some rooftops and balconies. And although they’re not all yet lighted, they stand smugly at the ready.
Here’s the inside story.
Those Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas lights have actually been up since last year; maybe even longer.
The owners just decided it was easier to keep them there instead of annually risking life and limb on those rickety ladders.
I’m not suggesting this practice isn’t practical. It’s enormously practical. My problem is: What has practicality got to do with these four celebrations? Isn’t part of their magic and mystery their spontaneity? Their instant sense of wonder? Their unrehearsed capacity to scoop us up into a warmer, more loving place?
It strikes me that these homeowners may be swapping all that for a handy light switch. Now they can flip their holiday of choice on and off with nary a thought for its real significance.
Of course maybe I’m just jealous, because every year around now I have this anxiety attack. I can never find all my decorations, at least not the ones that still work.
Experience teaches that the most efficient way to locate a lost item around the house is to go out and buy a replacement. These practical-minded homeowners have beaten that problem, because their decorations never come down.
I tip my hat at their efficiency. Yet I sadden at their loss of spontaneous delight at the start of another mystical season. The approaching four holidays should call for whatever creative planning and fresh effort it takes. Otherwise, where’s the real fun, the authentic joy? In my case, this planning and effort is about to begin right now as I dig through my garage to see if any of those four holiday decorations just might have some twinkle left.
