Signs of the season

 Each year there are new Christmas decorations. In recent years the Grinch has enjoyed the spotlight and I'm seeing him everywhere. I recall when icicle lights first appeared. There are the blow up decorations in all sizes. The snow globes ones don't seem to have lasted as they were problematic. Now I'm seeing that red pickup truck, 53 Ford(?) with the Christmas tree in the back everywhere as well. It's the new thing I guess. 

 A few years back my brother-in-law gave me a box full of outdoor Christmas lights. There are the old school C-9 size bulbs. The first year I had them I strung several strings together and subsequently kept blowing the inline fuses. Yes, those older lights draw some serious current. Well, they are incandescent bulbs after all, Edison would be proud. These new-fangled LED things are far more durable, use far less energy, and have far less Christmas spirit! That's my feeling anyway. I helped my daughter in law put up two strings of those lights along her white plastic fence. It makes for a wonderful contrast. Those lights are in all colors, just like when I was a kid. Oh, she has other lights up, other decorations, but those strings look the most festive. It's like looking at a Christmas past. The same as the Ghost of Christmas past in that famous story.

 It is something I have noticed over the years, this changing of tradition. I guess not so much tradition, as the way that tradition is remembered or celebrated. Take that Grinch thing. I'm not a big fan of that. Sure, I've seen the story on television, but it doesn't compare to a Charlie Brown Christmas. Doesn't come close to Frosty and Rudolph. But there are those that really love all of that because that is what they remember from their childhood. Funny thing is, they aren't yet aware of that. That realization comes with age. It's still new to them! It's the old adage, you don't know what you have until it is gone. When the Grinch gets replaced, they will notice. Take the idea of an artificial tree. No surprise to anyone today, maybe even a tradition by now. 

 Even I have an artificial tree, for the sake of convenience. I have several other excuses as well. I do notice that the tree is fake. I have grown accustomed to that, accepting almost. But I will have a real tree some year, with bubble lights, I have those in storage, with C-7 lights in every color and an Angel topper. That was the tree of my childhood, with tinsel. The large C-9 lights were the only outdoor decoration we had. A string of them run across the front of the house just under the eaves and around the picture window. Very festive! Santa Claus arrived with the Thanksgiving Day parade and on those "floating heads" in the television commercials. 

 A new tradition has been quietly building, Wreaths across America. I became aware of it a few years back, although it has been around much longer than that. I have participated ever since I became aware. It's a new tradition that I sincerely pray will catch on and continue for many years. It has a fund-raising component and I understand that completely. It is a way to get more people involved. It's true that fewer join in for simply altruistic reasons. But, I don't want to sound negative about anything with this new tradition. I'm not concerned with the motivations behind all that, I am concerned with every Veteran getting a wreath for Christmas. 

 I do have some concern about this tradition being continued, as it has come under attack. Yes, there are those that object, declaring the wreaths are symbols of Christianity! Some groups declare it is offensive to them. They say not all veterans are Christians and it is a discriminatory practice, no matter which way you look at it. Wrong if you do, wrong if you don't, place a wreath. I won't be surprised if some litigation doesn't result from this at some point. Someone claiming they were harmed by seeing a Christian symbol on their loved one's grave! Then demanding compensation for trauma. That's the world we live in. I sincerely hope it never comes to that.

 Well, I rode by my sons' house and saw those lights on that fence. It warmed my heart to see them. A flood of memories arrived and inspired this morning's ramblings. The spirit of Christmas past. It is alive and well in those lights. Finding the bulb that has blown out, that memory isn't as fond. We had those lights when I was real small, but Dad upgraded at some point. Grandma told of having candles on her tree. They were only lit and burned for a few minutes on Christmas morning. Traditions change, becoming safer, less expensive and more convenient. Some will disappear altogether while others remain. The signs of the season.