I took a few photos around the house tonight, but when I went to look at them, I realized that most of them contained more information than I’m privy to reveal yet. Which really means that – once again – I’ve taken over the house three weeks before Christmas. Here’s a photo of the tree that ate our living room (and the baby – who would know really? She could get lost in there for months.) and that little gadget glowing red on the floor to the left of the tree? My new best friend. The push button tree lighter. Really a necessity for any live tree, where the alternative is squeezing yourself between the tree with a base diameter longer than your height and the wall, risking life and limb, all manner of delicate ornaments, and leaving a shower of pine needles in your wake. I used to sit on the couch in the evenings right before going upstairs to bed to enjoy the lit tree and the quiet house for a few moments – and then, in an act of pure laziness – would fall asleep on the couch because I didn’t want to perform those kind of acrobatics to turn the lights off for the night. Now it’s just a tiny step more involved than a clapper. If only I had thought to wire the house to enable the turning on of all three floors of window candles with one button. So now they reside on this table, and I’m kind of partial to that. This is where we’ve been putting the Christmas cards as they arrive – my favorite part of Christmas, I think – and I must say, they are a bit light this year. Perhaps they are spread out all over dining rooms tables just like mine are…
