Putting Away Christmas
I've never, ever solved Rubik's Cube, but through trial and
error I somehow manage to fit all our Christmas tree ornaments back into the
same container year after year.
Now that's a holiday miracle, because every year I add to
the stash; we seldom break them, and I hate to loose anything.
I've still got my eye out for that carved wooden Santa ornament
that went missing two years ago. It must have gone out with the tree.
Every year my Boy Scouts have found ornaments left on the
trees during their Troop's tree pick-up fundraiser.
Apparently it's easiest to spot stray ornaments by getting
under a “fort” of trees in the back of the trailer. At least one of our boys
thought that was a good way to pass time between houses.
If you've still got your tree hanging around looking less
and less like a decoration and more and more like compost, just call your
trusty, local Scout troop and arrange to have them pick it up.
Two
If you live north of Highway 198 just call Troop 336 and
they'll make short work of one of your biggest post-holiday chores. Call Kyran Rice at 559-799-0549 with the time and place where your
tree will be left for pick-up. The Troops request a $15 donation and you can
make arrangements for where to leave that, too.
It's the same deal if you live south of 198, but call Cliff
Woolley of Troop 340 at 559-734-5258. Both Troops will be happy to haul off
your scratchy, sticky tree – they make great forts, you know. And you won't
get a single needle permanently embedded in the carpet of your car.
There is another Troop – number 338 – that also does their
own neighborhood in the southeast part of town. But they only go out on Jan.
1, so we procrastinators have missed them already.
I think these boys are really showing patience and perseverance
to go out in the cold and sometimes rainy winter, in preparation for fun things
to do in the summer. The Scouts do the tree pick up in order earn money for
summer camp, campouts and other outings.
They have a lot more patience and perseverance than I do.
I get so impatient when it comes to cleaning up after the holidays.
It takes me a good month to lovingly display all the contents
of the dozen or so storage containers full of holiday decorations that line
the walls of our garage. So I don't know why I feel the need to take them
down and have them all neatly packed away in one day.
But isn't that the whole reason for New Year's Day? It's
the post-holiday holiday for cleaning up from the Christmas holiday. Right?
I guess I could put it off and say I was celebrating the
12 days of Christmas. In
Did you know that some towns have laws about when holiday
decorations must be down? Granted, in the article I read, the police said
they don't generally get complaints until May or June. Even I can't procrastinate
that long.
I have one friend who has white strands of lights lining
her porch. She said they are not Christmas lights – they are her “party lights.”
That way she can leave them up all year long. We had a neighbor who was very
blatant about leaving his Christmas lights up; he even admitted that when
one strand went bad he just stapled another set on top of them. I only saw
them come down once – when they were getting ready to sell their house.
On the other extreme, one member of our family starts putting
away the Christmas finery while the rest of us are finishing the Christmas
feast.
Whether you procrastinate putting away your holiday décor as long as possible, or you start as soon as the dishes are washed on Christmas Day, make sure you carefully tuck away the memories, but keep the beautiful spirit of the season out for as long as it will last. And take my advice: check your tree over twice. And could you keep your eye out for a carved wooden Santa?
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The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission
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