March 10: Christmas in March

I think people either love the Christmas season or they don't. There's no in between. Myself? I adore it. It's a magical time of year for me; even more so since the kids were born because I get to relive that childhood magic through their expressions and excitement. Every year, when the season has passed and the new year settled in, I feel an emptiness in the pit of my stomach at the realization that the decorations must come down. Over my years as a homeowner, I've come to expect that the outside lights will remain out a bit longer than the interior stuff, as the bitter cold of the Michigan winter makes it difficult to find a good time to take 'em down. An opportunity usually pops up at some point in January...until this year. This year, despite a relatively mild winter with the exception of one or two major snowfalls, we became one of those houses. You know the ones. You drive by, see the Christmas lights still hanging and think "Jeez, what is it with those people? The holidays have been over for like 3 weeks now". Yes, never before had the month of January come and gone, and still our holiday lights adorned our front exterior. After that first month, I just wrote it off as an anomaly and patiently waited for the first opportunity that February would bring. The days passed, and eventually February was behind us, yet the lights remained proudly hanging as if it were late November again. At this point, I could only shake my head, and, with a degree less of patience, look ahead to March and a chance to restore some normalcy to our landscape. Still, nine days of March ticked away, and between birthday planning, work and everything else in between, the lights were once again left out in the cold (literally). On this 10th day of March, I'd had enough. I was going to put an end to this charade and return the lights to their 8-month slumber in a tote downstairs in our basement. So, after dropping my daughter at school, I returned home and made a beeline directly for the ladder, hit the roof and began peeling the lights from their resting spot against the gutters. I now know why most people perform this task in January or February. The surface was a mess - a mushy blend of ice, snow and the freshly fallen rain that, of course, immediately started once I positioned myself on the roof. Here I am, on hands and knees, cursing the holiday tradition of hanging lights, just praying that I don't slip off or that the wind doesn't catch the ladder just right, dropping it to the ground, stranding me atop the house. It was a nightmare! Finally, as the last set of lights fell to the ground below, a sense of relief came over me. Hands covered in a wet rain/dirt combination, shirt sleeves and pants soaked, I made my way back down to the ground to rejoice in my accomplishment. Yes, just 2.25 short months following Christmas Day, the house was finally free of all holiday lights! That feeling lasted all of 30 seconds when I realized that now I had to remove the electrical tape to separate the lights, organize the lights in some orderly manner, roll up the 5+ extension cords I used for this job, and carry everything downstairs in order to pack it up for next year. I can honestly say, at the moment, I wasn't really liking Christmas all that much. Christmas in March that is.