Some Lights Shine Bright

When I was young, putting up the Christmas tree was, of course, a family event. There was more to it than getting the pre-lit tree out of the attic. First, we had to pick out the perfect tree. That usually ended up being a really cold night at the Noon Optimist Christmas Tree lot.

Then, dad had to saw the tree and get it to stand up straight. That involved being stuck by the needles as the stand was screwed into the trunk.  Next he put the lights on the tree. Okay, kids, this is where it gets dicey. Actually he strewn the tree with the lighting wire. Then, we all put the bulbs in. The bulbs were the big ones and were red, green, blue, and white.  Anyway, no two colors could be next to one another. That might sound easy, but somehow or another, two of one color would end up to each other. Then we would have to start over.

Now it was time to plug the lights in and watch them shine. Again, problems ensued. Most times, they didn't work. That is because, in those days, if one bulb was out, none of them worked. So, you had to go through all the bulbs until you found the one that was blown. This kept up through Christmas, because one could blow at any moment.

Then the decorations were placed on the tree. We even got to use icicles, but they needed to be placed one at a time on a branch. No throwing like you see in the movies. I believe that those icicles had lead in them also.

Things are so much easier these days. No, not really.  We are having electrical issues. It all began with this great Santa that I found at CVS. We wanted to put him in the front window. But, of course, it could not be that easy. First of all the windows are tinted. You can't see Santa at night. So, lighting is an issue. Barry bought a spot light at Lowe's for Santa, and it worked fairly well. For one night, that is. Then the switch on the spotlight jammed.

The windows needed to be cleaned so, Monday, I washed them. This tripped a GFCI. We can't find this GFCI to reset it and are afraid that it is behind the shelving that we have put up in the garage. So, Santa, is in the dark as well as one of my wreaths. We can't put the outside lights up until the plugs outside are working.

So, if you want to see lights, go by Chris and Robin's house. It looks great. You might want to take some sunglasses with you. It is bright enough that Santa will have no problem finding it, come rain, fog, snow, or sleet.