Christmas Light Humbug

I don't like putting up Christmas lights.  Or Christmas decorations. Or Christmas trees.  Does this make me a bad person?  I don't dislike these trappings of the season.  In fact, I really enjoy seeing what others have done.  If one of my family does the work, I will gladly enjoy the fruits of their labor.  I just don't like doing it.

However, every year, I am the one tasked with getting in the attic and getting down the tree, the lights, the ornaments.  I am on the one stringing the lights on the house.  I am also the one setting up the tree.  Fortunately, I don't have to decorate it.

"Why don't you just say 'No, I won't do it this year?'," you might ask.  I've done that before.  It didn't work.  If you are married, you know that spousal harmony is much more important than a dislike for putting up ornaments.

That being said, today I decorated for Christmas.  I crawled in the attic and got down the tree and the lights.  I got out the ladder and moved along the gutter, putting up a hanger every foot or so while working to keep the lights from tangling.  I screwed in hooks over the window frame so my wife could put up colored lights.  I set a laser light in the yard that illuminated the house and the pecan trees out back. (I'll admit, that was kind of cool.)  I then put up the Christmas tree in the living room.  I didn't complain (much).  I simply did my duty, all the while thinking, "I'm going to have to take these down after New Year's Day.  What a waste of time and energy."

But, hey, if it makes my wife happy, it is all worth it.  Merry Christmas.

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