Das Blog - January 5 2010

I packed up Christmas today. I placed an old white sheet on the floor and dragged out the brittle-branched tree, stripped of its holiday finery. The ornaments, the Mexican creche, the candles and the wreaths and the big creche from Annapolis rest in Christmas nests of old crumpled newsprint and used plastic bags. Despite my abhorrence of Commercial Christmas, I find myself at WalMart, seeking bargains in red and green plastic storage bins. I score two 21-gallon bins and a wrapping paper storage bucket with a top hat nearly as tall as the bucket itself. Christmas fits nicely, boxed and ready for attic exile. Every year I dread unpacking everything; every year I cry as I pack it all up. Every year I buy more lights.