Bah Humbug

For many, today is Black Friday.  For some it is also Hang Your Christmas Lights Friday.  And for the few, the proud, and the brave, it’s a little of both.  We fall into the Christmas lights category, and if you call a trip to Home Depot, parking a mile from the entrance, and fighting the crowds for all things Christmas, well it was Black Something.

It began around 8 a.m. this morning.  Neighbors could be seen from far and wide standing on ladders, rooftops and window-sills stringing lights.  We had to join in ourselves.  I realize we’ve only lived here 34 days, but what are a few lights in the big scheme of things? We can’t be “that house.” Besides, it was strongly suggested by another neighbor that we not be the only house on our street without Christmas lights this year.  (That conversation happened the day the moving truck pulled in our driveway.  So we’ve had some time to prepare.  Yeah, right.)

Pleased with our purchase, and only going $12 over our light’s budget, we proceeded home.  Something caught my eye from down the street, but I couldn’t quite make it out.  As we drove closer, there it was, in plain site.  A 10 foot Santa, an eight foot Rudolph, and hundreds of lights graced the yard a few houses down from ours.  We looked at our purchase.  We looked at our house.  We looked at each other.  I felt to cry.

There was no way we could compete with this.  Not that it’s a competition mind you, but if it was, well, we would probably be disqualified.

My husband went straight to work, while I scrounged box after box for anything resembling red, green or Christmas.  A few hours later we were done.  Now, before you wonder why this is so complicated and defeating for us, you need to know we have no trees or bushes in our front yard.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  Not one.  So, in our defense, we don’t have a lot to work with.  But regardless of the landscaping issues, we did our best.

Then night began to fall.  We plugged in.  We flipped switches.  And there it was.  Our light’s display.  Hmmm.  We looked up the street.  We looked down the street.  It’s a grand site in either direction.  Until you look at our house.

All evening we’ve tried to wrap our heads around what more we can do.  We even threw around the idea of a live nativity?  Any volunteers for Mary and Joseph?  Or, maybe Matt could set up a sound system and belt out a few Carols each evening?

I’m not quite sure how all this is going to go down.  I’m telling myself it’s a work in progress.  I’ll keep you posted.  Until then, I’m feeling a bit bah humbugish about the whole thing.