(no subject)

I drove Mom around town to see the Christmas lights tonight. It's a holiday tradition for us, for about eight years, now. In fact, she asked me last week if we were going to go. She gets out so seldom. Getting her out of the house is an effort, but at least she doesn't have to get out of the car, walk any distance, or make any effort at all once she's in the car. I made her leave her sweater on when she put on her coat, and then tucked a blanket around her from neck to toes after I belted her in. I ran more heat than is comfortable for me, and she still complained of being a little cold. But she enjoyed the drive. I hotfooted for the vet's office first, made it just before they closed, to pick up a case of food for her dog--she was down to one can, and it wouldn't have lasted over Christmas Day. We worked our way back toward home from there.

It was very odd. There were the old standards, people who put up the same decorations every year. But some of those houses were dark; perhaps the former owners had moved, and the new ones aren't motivated to extravagances of light displays. There were a few new displays, along with the houses that just had a wreath on the door and candle lamps in the windows. But more houses than were lighted, or had any sort of display at all, were dark and undecorated. Many of the ones that had decorations felt unfinished, somehow, or thoughtless, as though the displays had just been thrown up haphazardly. There didn't seem to be any of the joyful planning, the fun in posing the animated snowman next to the lighted creche beside the sidewalk lined with lighted candycanes and lollipops. Yes, such displays are tacky, but they're also exuberant and joyful, and those qualities were more conspicuous by their absence this year.

I don't think Mom noticed. In fact, I had to tap her knee and point to get her to notice quite a few extravagant displays. She seemed to doze, in the dark.

But the soul-blight I've been feeling this year, the shadow of despair, seemed to have crept into the community tonight, a darkness that has taken the place of much of the light.

(no subject)

I drove Mom around town to see the Christmas lights tonight. It's a holiday tradition for us, for about eight years, now. In fact, she asked me last week if we were going to go. She gets out so seldom. Getting her out of the house is an effort, but at least she doesn't have to get out of the car, walk any distance, or make any effort at all once she's in the car. I made her leave her sweater on when she put on her coat, and then tucked a blanket around her from neck to toes after I belted her in. I ran more heat than is comfortable for me, and she still complained of being a little cold. But she enjoyed the drive. I hotfooted for the vet's office first, made it just before they closed, to pick up a case of food for her dog--she was down to one can, and it wouldn't have lasted over Christmas Day. We worked our way back toward home from there.

It was very odd. There were the old standards, people who put up the same decorations every year. But some of those houses were dark; perhaps the former owners had moved, and the new ones aren't motivated to extravagances of light displays. There were a few new displays, along with the houses that just had a wreath on the door and candle lamps in the windows. But more houses than were lighted, or had any sort of display at all, were dark and undecorated. Many of the ones that had decorations felt unfinished, somehow, or thoughtless, as though the displays had just been thrown up haphazardly. There didn't seem to be any of the joyful planning, the fun in posing the animated snowman next to the lighted creche beside the sidewalk lined with lighted candycanes and lollipops. Yes, such displays are tacky, but they're also exuberant and joyful, and those qualities were more conspicuous by their absence this year.

I don't think Mom noticed. In fact, I had to tap her knee and point to get her to notice quite a few extravagant displays. She seemed to doze, in the dark.

But the soul-blight I've been feeling this year, the shadow of despair, seemed to have crept into the community tonight, a darkness that has taken the place of much of the light.