oh...those LIGHTS!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!Thou hast a wondrous message:
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!Thou hast a wondrous message:
Thou dost proclaim the Saviour's birth Good will to men and peace on earth
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!Thou hast a wondrous message

As I was setting up the Christmas tree today I had something happen that instantly took me back to my childhood days. I pulled a wad of Christmas lights out of a box and they were all jumbled together in one giant mass. I sat myself down on the carpet and began the daunting chore of separating this end from that. What seemed like hours later I plugged the cord into the wall, only to find that one half of the strand would not light up! This is where I had my childhood flashback! For it was "I" that used to have the so-not-fun job of un-wadding lights, testing them, and fixing them so they work! You see, lights back then were not as inexpensive as they are nowadays. Plus being from a home that was on a tight budget, fixing was in our vocabulary..not buying!
So there I would be, not more than five or six years old, sitting on the floor with a pile of lights on my lap. I can still remember taking out each and every bulb, and testing them in a working strand. What a frustrating, time-consuming, and drive-me-nuts, job that was! I definitely learned patience at this chore! Honestly, I am surprised I did not get electrocuted as well! What fun though to get that nonworking strand to light up and shine. Ah, success! It did happen, occasionally.
My mom always did such a great job getting the house all decorated for Christmas. She would have do-dads and thingies all over. The house felt so warm and inviting. Those were the days when shiny silver tinsel was the rage. Remember?? Oh how many times one of our two dogs would wind up gagging and hacking up those long shiny strands. Ga-ross!! Christmas cards would be hung with tape on the doors. The creche would make its loving debut and put somewhere where tiny hands wouldn't touch. The windows would be decoratively (um, wildly!) sprayed with that white fake snow stuff. As a young child this was always such a very special time. Ah...the memories! Maybe that is why I have 10+ Rubbermaid totes lined up in my hallway right at this very moment! Ten totes chock full of Christmas thingies of my own. Ten totes of "what the heck am I gonna do with all this stuff?"
Getting back to the lights.. I once heard a saying that said that it isn't the big things in life that are really important. But, rather those small, everyday things. For it is in those small everyday things that memories are made and stored, to come out sometimes not until years later. As I was struggling with those lights today it sparked those fond Christmasy memories of my youth. Those wonderful memories that today made me smile.
Now, I probably could have sat there on the floor, going bulb by bulb, trying to get those strands to work. I could have recruited the help of my kids. I didn't though. I got up, happily tossed those strands in the recycling bin and grabbed my keys and headed for Meijer! $1.99 later, I had my brand new, colorful, happy, memory-producing, Christmasy lights. And, I am OK with that!