The weather is near perfect for a December day. It is warmish, in the mid-forties, the sky is a light blue, the breeze is lightly blowing all the dead leaves still on the branches and the sun is bright. I need to be out today, and I’m glad.

All of my Colorado gifts are wrapped and ready to be mailed. I just have to box them and take them to Harwich to UPS. That is the only item on my to-do list today. I am relieved they are ready to go.

Last night my yard was aglow. Bright bulbs lit up the front fence. The bush beside the driveway was decorated with large ornaments of different shapes and colors and highlighted by a floodlight. The gate to the backyard has white lights and is connected to the white lights lit every night regardless of the season. In the back, the deck rail has colored bulbs strewn across it. The little library is wrapped in small bulbs. My cow and donkey are in the front yard with their insides twinkling. Last night I went outside twice just to see the lights.

When I was a kid, a ride to see the lights was a tradition. The first spot was in Saugus where street after street was filled with large houses covered in lights. I remember being glued to the window so I wouldn’t miss anything. The line of cars was long, and and we crept along. My father got impatient and complained a bit. From there, we went through Melrose, the next town over. On one street, a hill, the houses were all decorated. Back then no houses had white lights. All of them had large, multi-colored bulbs. Next we headed home uptown through the square. Bells hung from the center of large ropes of pine strung from one side of the street to the other. The fire station was covered in lights. A large Santa was on the chimney ready to descend. It was amazing. When we got home, we were still excited by all the bright lights, and sleep didn’t come easily.

Rudolph will not be guiding Santa’s sleigh. He went among the missing last night. My Rudolph was a tall, plastic, solar bobble head. When I went to bed, I found packaging on the bed. This morning I found the solar bottom in the yard. Rudolph has met his demise. We know where the responsibility lies. Also in the yard was a shirt, a Christmas present. It was still perfectly clean. The marauder wanted the plastic bag. Nothing is safe from Nala the destroyer of worlds and of reindeer with red noses.