Holiday Tradition

"Hurry up Harry, the carolers are starting. Don't you hear them?"

"I hear 'em; I hear 'em. I'm just stoking up the fire for the evening, then I'll be out."

Gladys shifted in her Adirondack chair, fluffing the cushion beneath her. The evening was brisk with the cool mountain air infiltrating even the quiet valley she and Harry called home. The sounds of the children chasing one another as they waited for the yearly event to begin hummed gently below the chorus of song that filled the neighborhood.

Fa la la la la, la la la la...

With a warm mug of cocoa in each hand, Harry emerged from the cottage and took his seat to enjoy the festivities. The aroma of chocolate and amaretto provided a soothing yet spicy warmth to the December evening.

Don we now our gay apparel, fa la la, fa la la, la la la...

"Can you see alright Glad?"

"This year, yes. But I'm afraid by next year the Peterson's shrubbery will spoil the view."

Harry sighed; knowing the difficulty he and Gladys would have making the two-block walk to the town square to enjoy the ceremony next year. Nevertheless, that was future and right now, the magnificent evergreen selected for this season stood tall and proud at center stage.

Fa la la la la, la la, la, laaaaaa.

As the last note gave way, blue, red, yellow, and white lights illuminated the branches of the fir. Oos and ahs floated through the night air as though on clouds. Where once there was virtual darkness, there was now a glowing burst of color.

"Oh Harry, it's beautiful!"

Just as Gladys reached for her beloved's hand to relish in the moment, a pop rang out, followed by the sound of a burger sizzling on a charcoal grill. In an instant, the radiance gave way to darkness once again.

"Ya 'spose ol' Marvin blew a fuse Glad?" Harry asked, using his spoon to bob the marshmallows up and down in his mug.

"Well...I don't rightly kn¯."

Gladys didn't have time to finish her pondering as the town fire truck roared past, its siren slicing through the silence. The pair looked at one another, and then followed the lights of the truck as it rounded the corner and came to a stop at the square.

It took less than ten minutes to put out the flames on the year's Christmas fir. Unfortunately, all that remained was a burnt and tattered needle of a tree trunk and few melted strands of ornamental lights.

"Lights on the truck look good this year," Harry said, finishing off the last of his cocoa as it passed back by the house on the way to the station, adorned it its own strings of lights. "Real pretty indeed."

Gladys rolled her eyes and sighed, then chuckled a bit to herself. "I sure do love my Norman Rockwell town."