Everyone in my neighborhood had the same reaction to the day after Thanksgiving as I did: days too short, nights too long and dark, must decorate. Even if houses were only half decorated on Friday, some lights or decorations were put up. Neighbor Forrest outdid himself and managed to put three giant inflatable light-up things on his porch roof, besting his record of two from last year. When he is completely done, I’ll take a picture and post it, although anyone who happens to check out pictures taken from the space station can probably see it. It’s that bright.
My apartment is lit up pretty well itself, and I’ve discovered that LED lights are like laser beams. I have them on my tree for the first time this year (trying to save the planet through my Christmas decorations, Al Gore would be proud), and holy shit, they are little multicolored spotlights. I was so blown away by them the first night I had them up that I totally forgot to put the ornaments on the tree and just sat there mesmerized by the glow. Freddie was also transfixed, at least enough so that he forgot to try to chew the cord for a bit. That’s good, because I’m really tired of saying “No! Zap! Zap!” to him. I don’t think he’s going to understand electrocution except by experiencing it – telling him “Zap!” ain’t cutting it. And no, “Bzzzt!” doesn’t seem to make much of an impression, either.
The short days depress me, and the lights only help so much. The past few days have seemed endless, and I always think it’s much later than it actually is. Today might not be as bad since I’m back at work and that eats up a lot of hours, but then again, I’m back at work and that sucks. When we compare that to endless days spent watching my TiVo backlog…well, work does not offer me the entertainment of Tim Gunn or Ugly Betty, ya know?
