The other day the husband and I were commenting about the weather and I mentioned it might be the time to put up the Christmas lights. He replied “Yeah, I’m not going to do that.”

And… I didn’t care.

I think I just might have the skills to pull out the ol’ ladder and climb on the roof myself. I think if I attempted this my husband would indeed come to the rescue of myself and the lights.

But when he said he wouldn’t be hanging up lights, I didn’t miss it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the look of a home with well-done Christmas light. It’s classic, it’s cozy, it’s the spirit of Christmas. I daresay lights at this time of year are one of my favorite things about the holidays. But I’ve also driven down the street and in the sadness state of judgement, recoiled in disgust at some really bad Christmas lights display. It’s not that they’re overtly tacky, but that maybe they should have shelled out a few bucks to have a professional hang the lights. Which isn’t a bad idea, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

We have one of those projector thingies somewhere in the garage. It’s cool, but the projectors can also run a bit tacky and due to the nature of our front yard I’ll have extension cord all over the place for the milk guy to trip on.

While I do love Christmas lights and maybe I’ll hire someone to make them look super good next year, I don’t care this year.

I like to imagine myself aiming for more minimalist. Do I really  need a showy bunch of lights? If I were to take the minimalist thing quite literally, what about the crappy bunch of cords I have no idea what to discreetly do with?

What did people do before the advent of Christmas lights? How many people actually put candles out there? Yet Christmas heartwarming memories often drift back to romance of yesteryear without electricity.

I thought to my Halloween/fall decorations. I love fall. My decorations were some ears of jewel-colored Indian corn I had grown myself, pumpkins, and the cornstalks that grew the Indian corn. I thought it looked great. Simple, but clearly fall.

Why can’t I do the same for Christmas without blinding the neighbors with Christmas lights?

Wreaths always look great. I have already asked around for local live wreaths that I can toss in the compost on the 26th. I have tied festive bows to the lamp post.

And I like it. It’s cheery. I hope the wreath will make it cheerier. Not busy by any means, but something sweet, simple, and a tribute to the holidays.