Christmas Is Going Up. I’m Staying Closer to the Ground.
My wife has been telling me for some time that I should stay off ladders.
Last year, a friend fell from one and did considerable damage to himself. That gave her argument a specific example, which made it harder to dismiss as a general lack of confidence in my climbing abilities.
This year, I am going to listen.
This may be a new experience for both of us.
Christmas decorating will continue. But my main design principle this year is easy: easy to put up, easy to manage, and, particularly, easy to take down.
It Was Only a Few Things on Sale
Over the last ten or twelve years, I have added a few decorations whenever something interesting appeared at a good price.
That seems harmless enough at the time. A string of lights here, an inflatable there. Something sparkles. Something changes color. Something promises to turn an ordinary bush into a festive attraction.
Eventually, those small purchases become a collection.
I probably have forty different types of decorations: inflatables, strings of lights, solar displays, lighted trees, waterfall lights, fabric for covering walls and bushes, and equipment for light shows.
The strings alone may number twenty, with a hundred lights on each. That is approximately two thousand lights before counting the other things that illuminate themselves.
Apparently, I have been quietly acquiring a seasonal electrical department.
I bought relatively little last year. Prices seemed higher, and I had stopped ordering from Temu. But the more important question now is how much of what I already own I actually want to install.
A sale price is a one-time event. Putting the purchase up and taking it down can become an annual commitment.
The Apple Trees Are Getting the Year Off
The apple trees in our patio will probably go without their two hundred lights this Christmas.
Stringing those lights involves effort and a ladder. Removing them involves more effort and the same ladder, generally when the weather has become less agreeable.
I have decided that the trees can contribute their natural appearance to the holiday season.
The waterfall lights that previously went into trees will probably move to the front wall, where I used the color-changing fabric last year. The fabric, in turn, may go on the tall bushes instead of the white light nets.
That is still a tentative arrangement. But moving decorations to places where I can reach them more easily seems like a reasonable improvement.
There is one ladder-related exception I am still considering: the light tree at the front of the house. That requires another look at how to get it installed. I suspect announcing that I am listening to my wife while immediately identifying an exception may require some explanation.
Some Decorations Have Earned Their Place
The inflatables will go up, although probably in different locations.
They provide a substantial amount of Christmas for the effort involved. Position them, secure them, connect the power, and they take care of becoming larger than they were in the box.
The solar sparkle lights will go in front. They are easy, which gives them considerable standing in this year’s selection process. Their main winter requirement is that I clear snow from the solar panels.
I can manage that from the ground.
I haven’t decided how many strings of lights will come out. Owning twenty strings does not necessarily mean all twenty need an assignment.
Some may spend another Christmas resting in their boxes. I don’t believe they have a contractual right to participate.
The lawn light show and some of the more elaborate arrangements will probably sit this one out as well. I would like to enjoy looking at the display without having assembled quite so much of it.
The Garden Has Already Closed for the Season
Outside Christmas preparations, things are winding down.
The garden water is off. Tools are put away. The annuals are gone, the perennials are trimmed, and the daylilies have had their haircut. There is still some cleanup to do.
Fruit-tree pruning will wait a little longer for the leaves to drop and the trees to settle into dormancy. The roses can wait until February or March.
I know this is also the season when people suggest planting garlic and spring bulbs. I will leave those opportunities to others this year. The daffodils are already in place, and previous attempts with tulips have encountered persistent squirrels.
I am unwilling to finance another underground buffet.
With a possible move to an apartment in the spring, I am also holding off on preparations for another gardening year. Nothing is settled, but it changes how much I want to start.
For once, November’s outdoor task list is getting shorter without being replaced by another one of equal length.
Taking Things Down Counts Too
Halloween decorations are already down, and some will probably be given away.
Christmas cannot go up until November 15, so I still have time to reconsider the plan. I also have time to remember that every decoration installed in November creates a corresponding task after Christmas.
That second task deserves more attention when making the first decision.
It is easy to picture how something will look on a pleasant afternoon before the holidays. It takes a little more imagination to picture yourself retrieving it in January, with cold hands and a cord that appears to have become part of the shrub.
If we move, much of the Christmas collection will need another home. I hope someone else will enjoy it. A decoration can still have plenty of useful life left when its current owner has lost enthusiasm for the installation process.
I have enjoyed building these displays. This year, I would like to put more of the effort into choosing a few arrangements that work well and less into finding a place for everything I own.
There should still be color, sparkle, and some large inflated evidence of Christmas.
And my wife may get the additional seasonal pleasure of discovering that I occasionally take advice.
Which holiday decoration still earns its setup time—and which one have you quietly retired?
