The other day, I left the house after putting up the tree, and distinctly remember turning off the tree lights before I left. This harks back to the days when I was but a wee thing, and the bulbs on our tree got hot as a fire poker after being on for a while. "Don't forget to turn off the damn lights on the tree, damn it!" was my mother's mantra at this time of year. She was afraid the tree, then the house would burst into flames. We always had a live tree, well, it was live when we chopped it down.
Anyway, I digress. I turned off the lights, and when I came home, alone, I was rummaging around in the kitchen when I noticed that the tree lights were on. I stood there a minute, knowing full well that I had turned them off. I even entertained the idea that perhaps the cats, who are fascinated by the tree, by the way, may have turned them back on. They never cease to surprise me.
But, I really thought of Travis. Weird, huh? This being the same son who once poured ketchup all over his hand and came running to me that he had cut himself. After I recovered from my mild heart attack, he laughed like a banshee. He loved his pranks. And this would have been right up his alley....freak Mama out with the tree lights.
Ah, what fancies we have this time of year.
6 comments:
We did some major home improvements this past year, so our old gutters with the nails driven in the wood below them are gone, making hanging lights a challenge. I think we're just gonna get some s-hooks, hang those from the actual gutters, and put the lights up like that. Easy to do and doesn't put a hole in anything.
Who knows maybe some Christmases would be better without the gifts and stuff...
Did you turn off the lights now?
The year I moved to Chicago, my good friend and mentor back home in TN, Lemmie, died from AIDS complications. To remember him, I bought a clear, Christmas tree ornament that had a single, red ribbon hanging inside it.
Flash forward to a couple of years ago when my then boyfriend and I put up a live (before it was cut down) tree in my apartment. As I put Lemmie's ornament on the tree, I told him about my boyfriend about Lemmie. And then, after the tree was completely decorated and the two of us were standing together admiring it, the tree suddenly fell towards me.
I grabbed it and put it upright again and only one ornament fell off the tree. Lemmie's ornament. And it shattered into pieces.
My boyfriend grabbed me and asked if I was okay and I just burst out laughing because, by God, Lemmie was in that room.
Lemmie hated all that sentimental crap. Moving that tree was his way of saying, "Get over it, you big queen! Go get a cocktail and watch a strip show for God's sake!"
Funny how they pop up when you need them.
Wonderful post as always. Hope you have a great Christmas!
There's no doubt in my mind that Travis turned the tree lights on.
I just got the pumpkin off the front step and still haven't remove the scarecrow by the driveway. I'm slacking. I do have a fresh tree in the barn but that's as far as I've gotten. I wish my neighbor would put lights on the wheelchair thats been sitting on his unmowed since July lawn or the pile of rubbish next to it. Might make the place look better.
Say hello to Travis for me!
And here I thought everyone would think I had finally gone 'round the bend.
Woozie, we have those 's' thingies on our gutters and they work fine.
SJ, I have pondered that very idea. I think we put up a tree mainly for those who have gone on before us. Strange, huh?
Leah, I think you're on to something. Last night when my son put the remote down, like all men, he clutches it like it was the hope diamond, the volume went all the way up!! By itself!
Mary, I've decided you have to be in the right mood to decorate for Christmas...
Stephen, always a pleasure to see you here. And a wonderful story you have shared. Yes, they do pop up when you need them, and what a joyous thing it is.
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