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It wasn’t fog When I was 7 years old, my father announced that he would decorate the beautiful cedar tree in our front yard for Christmas. He was an electrician, and we figured if he could wire buildings with ease he certainly could decorate a tree. So off the family went to Lowe’s, where we stocked up on boxes and boxes of colorful Christmas lights. When we got home that night it took hours to wrap the strands of lights around that tree. Finally it was complete! My father hadn’t bothered to read the directions, and since he was an electrician we figured he didn’t need to. When he plugged them in, all 15 strands of lights twinkled with color. We stood there admiring the tree, and Daddy mentioned how beautiful it looked as the fog came off our pond. It was at this moment that I belted out, “Daddy! That isn’t fog! The tree’s on fire!” Evidently 15 strands of lights are a few too many lights to connect together. You would think an electrician would have realized this, but I guess he got a little swept up in the holiday spirit. I’ve always thought my father hung the moon. I still believe that, but now I know he can’t hang Christmas lights. Mary Wester, Durham | Wake Electric |
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