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Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

With so many holidays, house decor can be a real chore

As my vacuum cleaner took one final sweep across my living room rug, its powerful suction gobbled up the last remaining traces of Halloween. Gone were the glitter, candy wrappers and stray blades of grass and leaves that had been tracked in last Saturday night during our party. Another Halloween had come and gone.

There was not much in the way of food left. My little dog, Georgie, already had graciously devoured each and every crumb or wayward piece of candy that had somehow landed on the floor throughout our house. Like a canine vacuum cleaner had gone over it, the floor was totally crumb free before I even began to vacuum. This process had entertained him for hours.

Hours and hours is exactly what it took to disassemble and pack up all of our Halloween decorations. It had been my intention this year to take the easier decorating road — the one that is definitely less traveled in our house around holidays. The one that had whispered in my mind, “Less is more.”

I don’t remember exactly when I backed up and did a U-turn back onto the “overdone” road, but apparently I had at some point. Just when my family and I thought we had the last of the Halloween packed, another black cat or jack-o-lantern seemed to appear out of nowhere and say, “BOO!”

When we were finally finished and my kids ceased their complaining, I looked around my house that now appeared to be naked or, at the very least, under dressed. As I walked from room to room, I tried to convince myself that this look was really normal for most people, but “naked” for me. Why couldn’t I just live in a house that didn’t require a moving crew to welcome each holiday season in and out?

I go through this thought process after each holiday, becoming a little depressed. What is it about all the buildup to a holiday that leaves you a little blue when it’s over?

Excitement builds and builds and then, in one short day, that particular holiday is over and whatever specially wrapped candy that was left over at the grocery store is half-priced. Just like anything that requires creative planning and execution, we place it high atop a pedestal, forgetting that at some point we will have to abruptly take it down.

As these thoughts raced through my mind like a locomotive headed for another holiday destination, I mentally tried to switch gears from ghouls and goblins to turkeys and cornucopias. The realization that it was the first of November hit me like a cold splash of water thrown directly into my face.

Thanksgiving would be here before I had even had a chance to totally seal all my boxes of Halloween decorations. I took a second to let it sink in. I couldn’t mourn too long for the loss of another Halloween because I could hear Tom Turkey gobbling his way into the very near future.

I left my somewhat naked house and went directly to my storage area to locate my ceramic turkey tureen, dishes and platters. I returned with my fall wreath that had to quietly slip into the spot my Halloween one had vacated. To me, it was sort of like the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace — a very ceremonial event. The only thing it lacked was pomp and circumstance. As soon as the new wreath was in place, I went directly back to where I store things. Where had I put all of my gourd candles from last year? I had to find them and I had to find them quickly!

I decided to give myself a day or two before I began decorating for the next holiday. Deep down inside, I longed to enjoy my naked house. The sofa in my living room called my name and invited me to have a seat. I looked around the room that was now void of anything orange or black and tried to soak it all in. I couldn’t enjoy the moment for too long before I started seeing flashes of Christmas decorations dancing in my head. I tried to hold them at bay, but without success.

It was official. It had happened just like it does every year. I had once again made the transition from one holiday season to another. The only problem is at this time of year there are so many holidays right in a row, you can’t even catch your breath! And, there is definitely no rest for this weary decorator. Just like a soldier armed with a glue gun and a determined spirit, I was marching directly into the creative battlefields of another holiday. My house will not be naked for long!

More from Mark

Christmas Made in the South: Join Mark and more than 100 other artists and craftsmen at the Macon Centreplex Friday through Sunday. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Mark will have all his holiday merchandise along with cookbooks and more. See The Telegraph for more details.

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