Is It Too Early To Put All Of My Christmas Decorations Up?
As is tradition in my family, we put up the Christmas decorations this weekend. You see, each year on the first full weekend in October, we gather together and just do it up big. It’s a lot of work, but you know what? It was really nice. My wife made some homemade lemonade and I cut up some celery sticks for snacks and we all just went to work.
My youngest’s job is to string over 600 yards of popcorn with a needle. The needle is sharp but she’s 6 now and can handle the task when she’s really concentrating. By the time she is done, my entire ceiling looks like Spider Man came in and nutted corn all over the place. It’s truly magical. My older daughter loves to make gingerbread houses out of peanut brittle. You see, gingerbread doesn’t last all the way until actual Christmas Day, but the brittle will. Its sugar structure is more solid than gingerbread and therefore can hold up over the next few months. In my opinion, there’s nothing brittle about it. Peanut strong is what it should be called.
My wife celebrates Christmas decoration day by making 6 dozen deviled eggs for all of our neighbors. All in all, it comes out to nearly 120 dozen eggs (we have 20 neighbors each of whom we love dearly). I string the lights. This year was even more special because I got a raise and could finally afford a ladder. In the previous 8 years, I had to stand on a kitchen chair and move it slowly and methodically around every inch of my roof. When the sweat would pour off my head because it’s still rather warm in Texas, my glass would be filled with some of that delicious lemonade. God damn, I love lemonade!
Holding my arms above my head for so long made my arms tired. Holding your arms above your head for nearly 10 hours is a task but I would get the job done through determination and my love for Christmas. When I would let my spirit go down, my children would come outside and say with their German accents, “Papa. The reindeer. What will guide them without our lights, Papa?” It is at that point that I know I need to carry on with the task at hand and carry I do. I work and work and work until the operation is completed. When it’s done, we usually will gather around a bucket of ice and listen to our family’s favorite music.
I dont want to make this post entirely about me because it isn’t. My family isn’t the only family who begins decorating on the first weekend of October. In fact, families all over the south do the same thing, and it is a wonderful sight to see. So to answer the question, no it’s not. In fact, it’s never too early to decorate for Christmas. By the way, we are saying it again.