Illumination

The Lights, in SepiaAt 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.

This was lovingly handwritten on November 26th, 2006