4 Alarm Holiday

Here you go Mrs. M. The twinkling is hard to capture in a photo. That's the part I like best, but I did get some fresh falling snow. Awwwww.

"Is your house on fire, Clark? No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights."

Well Thought Out Twinkles

“The Holidays” are here. Everyone is wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the season. I know I am, at least. So much to do, only 19 shopping days left. Our older girls love the holiday lights on people’s homes. LOVE them. Every time they see a house that’s decorated, they both scream “Christmaaaaas!” If four houses in a row are lit up, you will hear four Christmaaaaas’ in a row. It’s not even annoying. So, knowing how much they enjoy this and, I’ll admit, to keep up with the Joneses a bit, I decided to wire the little dogwood at the end of our front walkway. I planned out the design for a week. I did it right too; lights, cords, a photocell timer. I even had a buddy help me rewire the closest outside outlet. I did several strings of solid white lights and several strings of “twinkling” that I planned to intermix. That should have produced a beautifully glowing white with random sparkles. And you know what? It did just that. The girls squealed with glee when they noticed the brilliantly lit tree in their own front yard. I was pretty proud of myself too. Except for that one hole on the right side.

I tried to leave well enough alone. I really did. The Mrs. insisted there was no “hole”; but I could see it. After a few nights it's all I could see. So, the other day, I stopped by Menards and picked up one more string of lights. I pulled out the ladder, plugged it into the end of one of those twinklers and meticulously wrapped it around the non-illuminated branches of the upper right quadrant of the dogwood. My masterpiece of flaming holiday festivity was now complete. Wanting to share the joy, I ran inside and grabbed the girls so we could all admire my handiwork in the warmth of the other side of the living room windows. We got there just in time to see the tree seemingly extinguish itself.

Did you know those light strings have fuses? I’ve also learned that those fuses are exactly why they tell you, on that little warning tag, not to string more than 3 sets of lights together. A landscape-architect friend was pretty surprised I initially had 11 running all at once. #12 did the trick though. Pop. Last night, as I worked through the entanglement of Christmas lights trying to identify the bum wire, I was not a happy Santa’s helper. I ended up removing all 12 strings in the 12 degree cold. I have a new design that I will implement this weekend though. Wish me luck. And if I don’t get back here to post anything in the next couple weeks…Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. See you next year!