You can tell that Christmas is coming. After the Halloween decorations were safely stored, the town went dark. Only the streetlights hid blackness in our neighbourhoods. The moon disappeared. And slowly light came has drifted back into our neighbourhoods. Outdoor lights were strung, and blow-up decorations began filling front lawns. Trees were filled with lights and the darkness of the first two weeks of November began receding.
In our home, the tubs of lights that had been safely stored for ten months were unpacked. The outdoor wreaths and garlands were brought down from storage. Then the testing began. Before we put the lights away, we test every string. They are carefully wrapped and tied to make them easy to use come the next Christmas season. They are tested before they can feel the outside temperatures. And if everything is perfect, they are strung.
I have learned that it is better to put lights up that are working. Yet this is where frustration creeps in. This year four strings of lights that were all working in the garage, did not all work when outside. With the new technology, sections of lights on a string go out. Then you must find the bulb that has failed. Do you take the whole string off the tree and begin afresh, or do you clamour through the branches to find the failed bulb, or the missing bulb that has fallen out as the lights are attached to the tree. This is how frustration builds.
Putting lights up is a game of patience. You would like to curse at the top of your lungs when strings don’t all light up. You want to yell and blame an unknown prankster when you take the string from the house where it was working to outdoors and sections fail. But you can’t curse those demons too loudly because its Christmas and you are decorating for the joyful season.
Often, I never find the bulb that has failed. And this is where the Christmas merchants of light love me. It calls for new lights to be purchased. Even then, not all new lights out of the package work and returning an open box of lights that are not all in the box seems to be frowned upon by merchants. They would like to see the bulbs in pristine packaging.
There are thousands of pages on the internet to sooth your anger and tell you how to fix the problem lights, but they do not address frozen fingers, nor scared heads from prickly branches. They simply tell you how much you and your community will enjoy the Christmas lights. Cheers to everyone who are putting up lights and being frustrated.
