My Christmas Lights are Still Up
And why they’ll stay up for a while
For the last few years, I’ve given Middle Child a particular gift for his mid-March birthday, per his request.
I take the Christmas tree down.
Granted, it’s almost spring by that point, so fair enough. The days have lengthened by then and the grey gloom of the Michigan winter doesn’t last as long. That makes taking down all of the glittery ornaments and twinkling lights a bit easier.
I’d be willing to let it go a bit longer, but he’s actually right. It’s time. (Don’t tell him that.) It does feel good to move on to spring. AND, while the Christmas lights go away until the day after Thanksgiving, I have plenty of fairy lights, inside and out, to keep me satisfied.
In our neighborhood, most people keep their lights and decorations up at least through New Year’s Day, although a few poor trees are abandoned at the curb in the week between. By the week after the New Year, more decorations come down every day, usually on the weekends, until there’s almost nothing left to see on the street after dark but porchlights by February. I get it, but it’s a little sad.
There are a few houses that change their lights with the seasons and holidays, not to the extent of Christmas lights, but still really pretty. I usually walk at nighttime and…
