 |
| Taking down the decorations |
The last trick-or-treater has
left our yard. The lights have been
turned off and now the front yard, which has been aglow with ghoulish delights,
is cast into utter darkness. Not the
scary kind, mind you, but rather the sad variety. It’s the kind of darkness that announces the
end of the celebration and the return to reality. Oh, there’s candy still in the bowl, not
counting the abundance brought home by the eight-year old, and the sugar rush
will last for a few days, to be sure. We’ll
also see the Cleo de Nile costume more often since we won’t be protecting it
from being ruined before she’s actually supposed to wear it. It’ll go into the hamper of dress-up clothes to
be pulled out and pranced around in when no one is looking and she can attend
Monster High in her play. But,
everything else goes.
It’s the day after and already
the memories and paraphernalia of the past month are being stacked on the
kitchen table. I’ll pull out the storage
tubs a little later and everything will be wiped down and carefully tucked away
until the girls allow me to pull it back out next October. The house will be put back to normal and the
yard will resemble just a yard. That is
until Thanksgiving. Then the Christmas
tubs will come out and our home will be usurped by the brightness of the
holiday.
But for now, it all goes back to
business as usual, and to be honest, it’s a little sad. I love how the girls have the house decorated
for our everyday lives, don’t get me wrong.
Our house is clean and well kept.
However, the decorations mean something exciting is coming, something to
look forward to. They mean we’re in the
middle of a celebration and that breeds enthusiasm. There is baking to do and get-togethers to
plan. Everyone is talking about what
they’re going to wear and what parties they’ll attend. It’s festive, exciting.
And now it’s over.
 |
| Sorting and counting her loot |
The holidays are definitely a
disturbance to one’s daily routine. When
we were decorating the house, I accomplished very little writing. I wanted to hurry up and splatter the house
with skeletons and witches. It’s as if
my procrastination wanted to hurry up and do everything else except what I was supposed
to be doing, which was putting words to paper.
While the post-season is almost the same with busyness - I want it over
with so life can return to its regularly scheduled programming - I’m slower to
do it. Why? Because, I’m not ready for it to become just
a memory.
Too fast things become the
past. Too fast the future becomes the
present. I want to savor the laughter
and the silly outfits. I want to watch
Dylan count her candy over and over as the girls try to sneak a piece. I want to hear the other kids’ tales about
the Halloween parties they threw. I want
to enjoy the decorations a little longer.
I want…I want to make the
memory instead of just reliving it in my mind.
As I take the decorations off the
walls and pack the spiders away, it only reminds me that another holiday is
gone. Over. I’ve gotten older and so have the
children. It’s not that I’m not excited about
the future; I am. I’m just not ready to
pack away the here and now.
*
* * * *
Halloween is my favorite. You just can't beat the decorations.
ReplyDeleteThey get spookier every year! Thanks for stopping by.
Delete