Squawk Radio

In my neighborhood there are many houses festooned with lights of all colors and sizes, draped over trees and bushes, hung about doorways and twisted around lightposts. The displays are gorgeous and amazing and they always bring a smile to our faces because my neighbors offer these annual light shows as gifts to the neighborhood, a way of joining hands via the electric company.
One in particular, a huge old oak tree, brings people from miles around. There are over 10,000 lights on this beauty and it literally fills the night sky with its glow.

For the last eight years our contribution has been one dwarf blue spruce which each December 10th my husband lovingly decorates with a single old fashioned string of big bulb lights. We've never thought much about it one way or the other, but I am aware that we haven't put quite the effort or expense into lighting our little tree that some of our neighbors have put into theirs.

This year for whatever reason (and I honestly can't remember what it was) we were late. Again, I didn't think anything much about it.

Well, last night the neighborhood kids came by carrolling and after being applauded, just before they left, the young mother chaperoning them stopped and said, "We are so glad you lit the tree." I have to admit, she really sounded glad, too.

I must have looked at her oddly because she was clearly a little embarrassed but she went on. "We get a kick out of watching how carefully David arranges that one string of lights (I could have told her it's called OCDC, but refrained from doing so) but when it's done it's just great. It just sits there all alone in your yard and I dunno why but, everyone just really likes it like that. It's become sort of a neighborhood tradition."

Sometimes you create traditions and sometimes traditions are created without you even knowing it. Merry Christmas, my dears.