On days that I babysit my granddaughter, I pick up my daughter-in-law, Lindsey, at 6:15 AM and drive her to work at the hospital. This ensures that she doesn’t have to walk in the dark from the nurses’ parking lot, and it gives us time to swing through the Dutch Bros drive-through and pick up a coffee. My son and granddaughter can sleep a little longer; and since I’m an early riser anyway, it all works out.
This morning, our conversation was about the Christmas tree.
“You know the giant evergreen with the lights? It’s fully lit this morning!” I exclaimed when Lindsey got into the car.
“I know!” she said, just as excited. She had seen it the night before.
We had watched that tree throughout the holiday season, troubled that the strands of C9 bulbs were working only on the very bottom portion of the tree. The tree, which is probably close to sixteen feet tall, was ensconced with yards of red, blue, yellow, green, and orange lights, but only the strands from the base of the tree to about three and half feet up were working. We were puzzled by it. The year before, the colorful lights on the magnificent tree had been one of our favorite Christmas decorations in the neighborhood.
What had happened to cause the homeowner to leave the tree half lit? Was the ladder broken, or had another neighbor borrowed it and never returned it? Was it something more dire, like a family illness rendering the tree-lighter unable to fix the lost connection? Perhaps the owner of the home didn’t realize the lights weren’t working? That seemed unlikely since the tree is so huge it obscures half the front of the little cape cod.
Throughout January, the other Christmas decorations in the neighborhood gradually blinked off…carted into garages and outbuildings, stored in wreath boxes and plastic bins; but the quarter-lit tree continued to announce its halfhearted Christmas spirit. We were baffled. Stoic through February, the bottom strands of lights shone on.
Now, on March 11th, that tree is in its full Christmas glory! All lights, from bottom to top, greeted me in a blaze of holiday spirit as I rounded the corner. It took my breath. It was worth the wait.
2 responses to “Oh, Christmas Tree!”
-
I read this, at first wondering when you’d written this slice! I kind of love the idea of lighting up a tree in March when people are needing a boost! The series of questions is a great weave-in to the event.
-
No reason why a tree can’t be lit up in March. I bet it brought smiles to many people.
Their neighborhood is about four miles from our neighborhood.
Leave a Reply