Good-bye Christmas

Chris Taking the Lights Off
Odenton, MD
January 2, 2024

 And it is gone!

Christmas has departed. The decorations are back in the boxes and returned to the storage facility waiting to be unboxed just after Thanksgiving in eleven months. 

It is sad when Christmas with its magic is returned to the storage facility. 

I noted yesterday that in some respects, unless the date is known, it is hard to determine if the decorations are being unboxed for the holiday or re-boxed for storage. I considered the tree as we were nearly complete removing the lights--were they going on or coming off? 

But then, I saw the bare branches from where the needles of the now dry and dead tree had fallen. It was time. We had a carpet of dry needles beneath the tree and out the door after we got the tree out of the house. 

And so it is finished. The decorations are gone, but the memories remain. As the cold rays of the winter sun caress my face, I look forward into the year ahead and wonder, when will be back in Florida to return our decorations to the storage facility? I know out tree still stands and that Santa has left a few presents tucked underneath its branches. Thankfully, we have an artificial tree and so the needles do not fall in great numbers like a formerly living tree. 

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD