Putting Christmas Away...

 It's sort of depressing, in a way...deciding when to put away the Christmas lights, the decorations, the tree, the memories, the hopes and dreams. There's that time that inevitably comes when we turn to each other, and ask, "When do you want to put Christmas away?"

Putting Christmas away...

We do the opposite of what we did only weeks earlier, drag out the large plastic tubs from the space under the stairs, snap open the lids and place things back where "they belong." For us, this year differed from all those before--we bought an artificial tree. This means, we were the sole determinators as to when the Christmas season of 2021 would begin (even though we always knew when it would end...). We no longer needed to climb in a cold car and travel to a distant tree lot to officially begin the holidays. 

We set up the tree Thanksgiving weekend.

The week between Christmas and New Years is a perfect time to tear down. I usually have days off from work and the family's usually together...perfect time. And if the weather cooperates, we'll take down the outside lights. There's an emptiness that invades the space once occupied by Christmas...where the tree stood, where the Christmas cards were placed, where the stockings hung and now were gone. The emptiness can never be fully replaced until those things are returned. Halloween lights and decorations try, but can't quite do it.

January is a tough act to follow. The build-up of the holidays, the excitement of possibilities, then January hits and--where we live, at least--is cold and sunless with bad air and once-white snow turning gray. Still, there's a beauty in January, if you only look.

Christmas boxes under the stairs get shuffled throughout the year. Other boxes leave and are returned until finally, the Christmas boxes come out again and we begin the cycle anew. The last thing I put away was our inflatable nativity scene. It needed to dry out completely, so for two days I plugged it in inside the garage until no water remained. Next year, before I unpack it, I need to find some lightbulbs...it's supposed to have six lights...only one remains now. Looks like I've got eleven months and change to get ready.