We took down our Christmas decorations today - the tree, the ornaments, the manger set - and put them in storage, where they'll stay until November 25, the day after Thanksgiving Day, when we typically decorate our home for the season.
When I was child, everyone in my large family enjoyed participating in putting up the Christmas, but few were on hand to help take everything down and pack the boxes away in the attic.
What a difference in moods. It's difficult to imagine a more striking contrast or one so stark. Holiday music played in the background as we decorated the house in December. Rarely was there a note of music played as we packed boxes in January.
One month was filled with joy and speculation fueled by thoughts of what Santa Claus might bring. The next month was shrouded in dread, both for the dreary task of packing away the holidays and for the Midwest's bitter January weather.
Consequently, the process of striking the holidays in my house back then was disorganized and hastily executed. Strings of lights were balled and shoved into bags. Ornaments, candlesticks, and assorted related items were snatched up and crammed into boxes with little regard for their safekeeping until next autumn.
The long-dead tree dropped needles everywhere as it was dragged from the front room and dropped at the curb, where it sat until a disposal crew collected it later in the week.
It was not our finest work. Every November, as we unpacked the boxed decorations and untangled the strands of lights, we promised we'd do a better, more organized job of putting in away in January.
We never reached that goal during my years in my parents' house, but my wife and I did a good job of it today.
We divided the tasks and carefully tucked away ornaments. I disassembled the artificial tree and secured it nicely in the storage room. The project took a few hours to complete, but the decorations are neatly packed and stacked.
It's taken us about 60 years to get it right, and hopefully I'll have another 50 years to perfect the process.
-- Thank you for reading. Comments are always welcome. You may post them here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com.
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