Today,
Thursday, I took my car in to have it detailed as I do every fall. It’s too big
and I’m too wise (old) to vacuum, clean the inside and wash and wax it myself.
My friend Claudia picked me up and we went out to breakfast at a restaurant
neither of has been to since we retired from the zoo.
Tummies full, we
decided to go to Swanson’s Nursery…indoor plants were 30% off plus it was wise
people’s day so we got another 10% for 40%. Since we were in Wallingford,
Claudia drove over to and through Ballard to the last road that heads north. It's definitely not the Ballard we remember from just a decade or so ago. Then, she took all back roads and almost all of them had water views. Some of
the homes were astounding and I cannot begin to imagine the property taxes. One
we passed was for sale for $1,850,000 and it didn't have much of a view. We also drove past the first house John
and I lived in as a married couple. It’s been updated and added to and must be
worth a bundle these days…too bad we didn’t take advantage of our landlord’s
offer to sell it to us back in 1969.
At Swanson’s,
we began to wander around one of the indoor plant sections. Out of the corner
of my eye, I saw something glittery. When I looked, it was almost an entire
wall full of Christmas ornaments…YES, Christmas ornaments!!! It had been all Halloween
on our way inside.
We did walk
over and peruse all the offerings, but I didn’t see anything that would be
applicable as this year’s grandkid ornaments. Still, seeing all that
Christmassy stuff, kind of made me not very happy. You see, I have to make a
decision about whether or not I’m going to decorate for Christmas this year. At
the moment, I’m tending toward doing absolutely nothing.
Part of the
problem is that the Christmas tree I had last year was pretty much at the end
of its life, so I got rid of it. That means I need to replace the tree and I
seriously do not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a tree that will require effort
to decorate for a measly thirty days of the year. I do know I can spend way less, but then the tree does look very fake. Then, too, there’s the boxes
of Christmas stuff in the attic. I’d need to have someone come over and haul them out of the attic. And, it’s not that my kids or grandkid wouldn’t be willing to
do so, it’s just that once it’s down, it takes a lot of effort to utilize.
For those of
you who haven’t been to my house, I have a lot of glass stuff sitting around
all over the place. I love all of it and almost every single thing tells me a
story. During the other eleven months of the year, this paraphernalia requires
dusting, which I also hate and which doesn’t get done on a weekly (or maybe
even monthly) basis. In order to decorate for Christmas, I have to pack it all up and put it somewhere else so I can replace it with Christmassy
stuff. Lots of time and effort is required.
When the thirty
days of Christmas are over, it’s then time to dust and clean the Christmas gear
and pack it away for another eleven months and ask someone to come back over and put the boxes in the attic. Once that’s accomplished, it’s time
to bring out the ordinary stuff and dust and clean it prior to replacing it
around the house.
So, this leads
to my quandary…should I decorate for Christmas or not. Yes, I love hauling out
the decorations and taking trip after trip down memory lane with practically
each and every ornament and display piece, but do I really want to take those
trips this year? And, yes, when I’m returning the everyday things to their
places, I also enjoy the trips they provide to times and events gone by.
Finally, I no longer
have Christmas events or many visitors to my home during the holiday season.
Claudia’s advice is to do it if it’s something I really want to do for myself,
that decorating isn’t for others. Maybe as the holidays get closer, I’ll have a change of heart/mind, but right now, I’m
leaning heavily toward not decorating…I’ll let you know if I come to my senses
(unless I’m already there).