Good morning fellow out of the box thinkers, snow lovers, Christmas lovers, Christmas haters, and others feeling the frost nip our noses in the crisp morning air (Unless you live somewhere warmer)!

Today I will be taking you on a trip, way back into my early childhood, in 2006. Since my birth I have been an odd, stubborn, lucky child born into a really amazingly wierd family full of unexpected stories. I thought about telling you one of the stories from my family, but why not tell you one about me instead!?

Winter – 2007

The story begins before this time, but I believe that all non fiction life tales are a snapshot of a timeline that extends on forever. Small children tend to have unmarked visions of the world, unshaped by society, still trying to figure out up from down. This makes children more instantaneous to the full grown ear, strange, unpredictable even.

This may help you understand my strange insistency to name each house of Christmas lights I saw… but even If you don’t, this should be fun to hear!

Coming round the mountains

Dimming light shone on glimmering rows of grass and orchard below, behind my closed eyes. The sun slowly setting to the west bringing a soft haze to my vision. The farmland animals had always been my favourite part of the ride to grandma’s, but they seemed hours away from the view outside our cars window. So I stared at the tall evergreens, and familiar rows upon rows of houses that have become my home these past years.

“I name you… loouronike!”

“I name you bumbikle, I name you mamunkie! And you are sooflaken.”

“honey? What are you doing back there?” Mom asked. I thought it had been obvious, but I told her anyway. “Naming the Christmas lights.” She furrowed her brow confused and looked back on the road, I wasn’t sure why she gave me that funny look, but in a few moments I didn’t even remember it.

Stubbornness

“charoousel… wakawak-o, um…umbubs” I continued… I hardly noticed the time fly by on a pair of silver Christmas angel wings, and carry me away… Not until I got annoying that is… I hated being annoying! Being annoying made me annoyed at whoever got annoyed at me!

“Anika. Stop doing that.” my brother told me, “stop! Your being annoying”

”wicksleur, and you are… limbambooor” I continued anyway, I pretended not to care what he said. “Anika STOP!” hIs tone trying to force me, his voice angry and.. annoyed! I continued right on, and louder. Now I know that getting annoyed at people thinking you’re annoying is so very backwards, but I didn’t then. I’ve always been a stubborn one.

“Mom!!!!!”

”mom! Anika won’t stop.”

”did you ask nicely?”

”yes! He replied, but simultaneously I yelled “NO! He never said please.”

thereafter was a fir amount of bickering, not very much though. Me and my brother got along well, thought I do admit I could be very annoying! Even if we didn’t, my mom is good at that stuff. In a matter of moments we were all singing along to muse’s “plug in baby” and all was well.

And again!….”

“Flafadeefloofloo!, mumbamac…. thousakie!”

It was the ride home, and our bellies were full and heavy, our eyelids were drooping, but our mouths sang on autopilot along to feist’s “let it die”. I couldn’t hold my head up let alone name lights, but light naming was a pastime. Not a necessity.

Naming chrismas lights became one of my favourite road trip pass times, but I grew out of it. It wasn’t until last year when my mom told me the story that I really remembered it again. This is why Christmas lights are not just Christmas to me. To me they are as stubborn, idle, childhood days.

Does your family have a holiday light tradition? Let me know in the comments below!