What About This?

By Wayne William Cipriano

I took off, I think it was last Monday, and noticed as I left the house how our Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations had sort of melded together. You might even call them decorations for Autumnal Time.

The Fall colors that were all around us as Halloween approached and stayed pretty much right up to Thanksgiving were reflected in our (Rosalie’s) decorations. A Halloween wreath and a Thanksgiving Tree were displayed together. Candy and other assorted goodies from one holiday fit perfectly with the next so that they kept trays and dishes topped off all over the house.

Where does she get the time to do all her regular stuff and then go “special” each holiday?

Anyway, that’s what I was thinking as I filled my hand with sweets and my eyes with her decorations as I left to take on some chores.

Like everyone else, I had quite a lot to do and the days are getting shorter. I didn’t get back home until a few minutes after sunset. As we go into December (isn’t the 21st the shortest day?), I have to remember to begin my homeward trek earlier and earlier. Once the sun goes down, darkness seems to come much faster in the Fall/Winter and I do not want to be walking home in the pitch. I was glad to see that Rosalie had flipped on the outside lights even though I didn’t need them. It just looks so cool!

A couple of years ago I waited too long to begin walking home and got caught in the deep dark. I literally could not see my hand in front of my face. Really, I actually tried to and could not! I stayed on our road by brushing my foot on the road, staying away from the leaves piled on each side. That evening I was very relieved when I topped the hill and saw the outside lights. It goes without saying that I don’t tempt the dark anymore by doing “just one more thing” before I head home.

On that Monday when I got to the house just as sunset came to an end, I was shocked to see the new face of the house. I had been gone, I later calculated, about ten hours. During those ten hours all the Autumnal Time decorations were gone. All of them. In their place, Christmas had arrived in spades. New wreaths, a new holiday tree (Halloween Tree gone, Thanksgiving Tree gone, Christmas Tree here), new table decorations, new room decorations, even new goodies!

I walked around the house and was surprised at almost every step where new decorations had replace the others. Christmas was indeed here and Autumnal Time was over and the Autumnal goodies I so enjoyed were gone, but the Christmas goodies (even better) had arrived. And all those goodies, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas, all are totally calorie-free – thus, getting down goodie-wise will result in absolutely no increases in body weight and/or dimensions.

As I sit here, writing about the wonder of having a family that celebrates so many holidays so very well, I remain surprised after all these years. Where does Rosalie get the time and the energy to do all this?

And how hard will I have to go to keep up with her?