This past weekend, on the Friday after Thanksgiving as is our tradition, we pulled out our Christmas decorations and set up the tree. Last year I broke down and replaced our twenty-five year old tree with a new one. The old tree had to be built limb by limb and didn’t include lights. The new one is in three “easy” pieces and includes clear lights. This year it was just me and my three-year-old grandson “Boo,” and he was thrilled that he could help “build the tree.”
All was well—I thought—until I plugged it in, expecting the lights to—well–light. I was not thrilled to discover that while the top tier of lights worked, the bottom two tiers did not. By that time it was late in the afternoon and the shadows were too dark for me to dig around through the branches to try to find the electrical problem, so I moved to Plan B and strung up some colored lights instead. I like those better anyway because they have a settings box and do all kinds of nifty dances. Forget the stupid clear lights. Who needs them, anyway?
Me, apparently. Or at least I’m too stubborn to let a Christmas tree get the best of me. By the next morning I was determined to discover what was wrong with those clear lights! I am not even remotely mechanically inclined and it took me an hour of diving head-first in between the scratchy branches, but I finally figured out where the line had gone short.
Now we have both clear and colored lights on our tree. A bit bright inside, but the tree looks lovely from the sidewalk. Best of all, Boo LOVES the lights. Every day when he comes home from preschool the first thing he does is come find me and yank on my hand, dragging me to the living room.
“Granny, Granny. Let’s go see the tree that we make-ded.”Then he’ll proudly flip the switch that turns on our tree and breathlessly wait for that moment when the lights flicker to life.
It’s now officially the Advent season. It’s my prayer that we’ll all take a tip from Boo and breathlessly wait for the Light of the World to come again, because there’s nothing more exciting than that!
Have a joyful and blessed holiday season. Merry Christmas!
Deb Kastner’s current release is Yuletide Baby.
Becky Dempsey says
Our tradition is to put up the tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We also have a 3 tier tree and this year, there are 3 or 4 limbs of the bottom tier that don’t light! I haven’t tried to figure it out yet, but they are on the side in the corner, so….it might stay!
Nancy K says
I loved hearing about your tree and how excited your grandson is about the tree. My grandson was just like your grandson when he was younger. He is now 13 and the tree doesn’t excite him as much. Two years ago we also replaced our limb by limb tree to a 3 part tree which is so much easier to assemble. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Danie says
This year we took down our thanksgiving decorations and we set up for Christmas on Saterday! It was so much fun seeing the tree go up with all the lights on and the best part was putting decorations on the tree and remembering the ornaments that you get each year for Christmas. I am excited and can’t wait to see what Christmas ornament I get this year. But most of all I am thankful for my family and my friends.
I would love to read this book.
oh.hello.hiya@gmail.com
Deb Kastner says
Great idea, Becky. Hide it and forget about it. Figuring out where the short was almost drove me crazy!
Deb Kastner says
Hi Nancy! I think my husband assembled the tree last year (the first year we had it) so I didn’t pay that much attention. So of course when I did it myself, my “easy” tree wasn’t so easy. Funny how different the teenagers view Christmas, huh? I’m having so much fun with the little one. It’s all new to him, and this is the first year he really “gets” what’s going on and is anticipating Christmas day.
Deb Kastner says
Hi Danie. Isn’t it interesting how ornaments tell a story? Do you get a new ornament on Christmas day? We usually get one dated ornament each year some time before Christmas. Haven’t gotten around to it yet this year. Great reminder that the true blessings of the season lie with our family and friends!
Jeanette Holtz says
We have a three Tier tree also, just bought it last week, and have not set it up yet,hope the lights work. About eight years ago, I went to Walmart and bought a new Christmas tree. Came home and set it up, it leaned really bad and if you walked by it would fall over. There was no way I was going to take all of those decorations back off. Finally went back to Walmart and told them what was going on with the tree, they told us that that brand of tree was sold missing a piece, but that we would have to purchase the piece or bring back the tree, because they did not have any extra pieces. I purchased the part, no way was I taking that tree apart lol
Jan Thydean says
we have a couple of traditions surrounding the tree but added a new one this year. Pizza for dinner and the grandkids here to decorate. I have a couple “ornaments” that my daughter made. Wormy is a cloth worm that she made in preschool and he goes in the branches first followed by Bird a paper mache bird she made a couple years later. I have an extensive helicopter ornament collection started the first year I was married to my chopper pilot husband 42 years ago. it is getting harder and harder to find ones I don’t have…think I have about 60 now so it is quite a sight. I have a all white ceramic Nativity that is a wonderful reminder of the season and of my favorite aunt who is no longer with us as she made it for me a year before she died.
Deb Kastner says
Wow…that doesn’t seem fair. If the tree is faulty the company ought to pay for the fix! But I know what you mean about not wanting to go through all that work twice.
Deb Kastner says
Hey, Jan!! <> You should take a pic of your tree with the helicopters and put it on Facebook. I’d love to see it! How special. Adding pizza sounds like a good deal to me–I never feel like cooking after an ordeal like decorating for Christmas!!