Today I am determined to bring my two Christmas trees up from the basement and set them up. Typically, I — along with whatever grandkids are available — decorate the trees the day after Thanksgiving. While others are frantically shopping Black Friday specials, I am creating Christmas.

This year, however, I am joining the multitudes who have already started singing Christmas carols and decking the halls with boughs of holly despite the fact that the turkey isn’t even thawed. It started when I was still in AZ, because I wanted to walk into our home on Christmas Day and have a holiday tree to light. It felt early, but I enjoyed the lights on our little Christmas tree each night until we left.

Yesterday I noticed that people in our neighborhood were stringing lights around their houses and trees. Bill and I went to see the movie King Richard (which, by the way, I recommend), and when we got out of the theater it was dark, but joyfully lit up with sparkling white lights that the outdoor shopping area had recently installed…..

I made the decision to join the fun. I wonder, however, why people, including me, have decided to start celebrating Christmas when they still have pumpkin spice latte foam on their upper lips. I think, like nearly everything else, we can blame it on COVID.

We all suffer from COVID weariness. Will it ever end? I am fully immunized and boosted, yet I still feel uncomfortable when I shop without a mask. Will that ever change? I’m so tired of wondering whether I am being exposed to COVID every time I hear a person cough or sneeze. Given my frequent hospital visits, I am terrified every time I have a little tweak in my tummy. Will I have to go to the hospital and sleep in a bed located in the hallway because all rooms are taken?

So instead of spending any more time worrying, we are all bringing beauty unto ourselves via Christmas lights and holiday music. My current favorite Christmas album comes from a women’s trio called Pistol Annie’s. The album is called Hell of a Holiday, and the group includes country music singers Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley. I almost didn’t even listen to the album because I’m still mad at Miranda Lambert for breaking Blake Shelton’s heart. My sister Jen reminded me that Christmas is a time for forgiving, and suggested perhaps Blake could take some of the blame. Besides, he is now happily remarried, and probably already has decorated his tree. Anyway, I’m glad for my forgiving ways because I love the holiday music.

So, by the end of today, I hope to have my angel tree filled with ornaments and providing Christmas cheer to all who pass by my window.