not this year, thanks

I took the Christmas tree down this morning.

I got up about 6:20 and went down stairs. Looked around the family room and decided I was over Christmas for the year, so I took the ornaments off and put them back in the box that was still sitting on the chair from when I'd put the tree up last week. Took the lights off and bundled them into another box.

Then I carried the tree out into the cold, quiet, dawn-lit garden and sat it where the peach tree used to be. See it sitting there in the raised bed? Maybe the birds will use it.

I'm not sure why it bothered me so much this year. We bought it on a whim while at Home Depot, and then it sat, unadorned, for a week and a half while I did things that had more appeal. I should have known then to just take it out back, but I decorated it one afternoon by myself while Steve was out. Most evenings we didn't even plug in the lights.

December has been a strange month for me for many years now. We have an uncomfortable relationship, December and I, like an ex-boyfriend who shows up unannounced to sleep on the couch. While I realize it has to come along every year and I dutifully begin to write "12" in my dates on 12/1, I think my best strategy is to stand still and let December flow past with as little disturbance as possible.

Except for the cookies.