Illumination
At some point, many years ago, a group of people decided that the best way to illuminate the spirit of Christmas would be to decorate a tree in lights, ornaments, and garland. The ancestors of these people — children, grandchildren, who knows — took it one step further; they weren’t content with just decorating the tree — they needed to bring it inside, for all to marvel at in the comfort of a heated home.
I don’t know the history of decorating trees for Christmas. All I know is that we do it every year, and it’s an act of pure holiday cheer. It instantly puts me in a good mood, even if the lights on the house continue to go out after putting them on the highest points of the house.
To whomever decided it was a good idea to run a string of lights through a somewhat dangerously dry tree, and to whomever decided throwing ornaments and decorations all over a usually drab dwelling would constitute a perfectly normal form of holiday celebration: Thank you.
Without you, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to swear under my breath while standing 15 feet in the air on an extension ladder. That’s an experience I’d have hated missing.