I love the holiday season. You get to buy gifts for loved ones. It’s acceptable to eat cookies everyday. People seem to be friendlier everywhere you go. Now that the season has officially begun– as signaled by the arrival of the Peppermint Mocha— I can openly listen to those Christmas jingles I’ve been streaming in secret all year long.
Unfortunately this year presents a special challenge for me. I have a new home and really want to decorate with lights but… is it wrong? Am I a wasteful consumer if I run lights with no utility? How am I to decide between my head and my heart?
Justification ensues, options are weighed, chaplain consulted (not really)… And the lights are a go. I decide that if I use LED lights my guilt-ridden (read: neurotic) brain should be able to rest easy. So I shopped and shopped and bought and returned and re-bought until I found just the right ones: LED C-7 Colorite lights by GE. They are Energy Star rated AND look just like the ones Mammaw and Pappaw used.
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The reason that I love the Holidays so very much is the nostalgia that comes with them. I think about my dad and my grandparents and special friends that are no longer with me. I remember the pumpkin pie and family gatherings and homemade decorations of my childhood.
This time of year is about reworking those special memories of my past into my for-real life in the present. It adds a special contentment that only comes for a couple of months at a time; so
I hope that you can do the same in your home. May your days be merry… and bright.