Last week, the News & Post’s editorial lamented — nay, ranted — about the severe earliness of Christmas displays in stores. Now, however, we’re well into December, which is the appropriate time to appreciate the holiday decorations.
Downtown Lake City is looking good. This past week, firefighters placed wreaths upon the lampposts on Main Street. Now, we have one just outside my office window. The trees next to our building are decorated with lights that shine beautifully after darkfall. The same is true for the trees placed in the Theater Park.
Lake City has done a smart job this year. Our downtown decorations look better than what I’ve seen in many larger cities.
Personally, I decorate modestly for the holidays. Last year, I mentioned the three-foot artificial tree that was the extent of my Christmas spirit in 2008. This year, it’s back, except that I’ve placed it on top of a table to give it the illusion of added height. I plan to add a second string of lights and some ornaments. The lighted tree gives off a soft light that lends a mellow feel to my living room, and it’s my sole source of illumination in the evenings after I return home from work.
Of course, no artificial tree can measure up to the sight and scent of a real Christmas tree. But with a real tree comes more responsibility — namely making sure you don’t let it dry up and cause your house to burn down.
In addition, there’s a tree in the yard that’s not a fir, but its conical shape lends itself to Christmas lights. I enjoyed the sight of it as it welcomed me home every night last December.
I’ve always heard it’s bad luck to leave Christmas decorations up after New Year’s Eve. A quick glance online reveals a ton of other superstitions I’ve never heard before. Apparently, one tradition is to leave Christmas decorations up for 12 days after the big day, while another is to leave them until Feb. 1.
At that point, you should probably weave it into your Groundhog Day festivities, and after that you might as well hang some dyed hard-boiled eggs from it and call it your Easter tree.
On the flip side of the coin are superstitions about decorating too early. One of those, according to Snopes.com, is that doing so invites evil spirits.
As last week’s editorial said, many big stores trot out their Christmas displays as soon as Halloween passes. Maybe these evil spirits are the explanation for what possesses people to act so crazy when they’re out Christmas shopping.
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