It’s been a few years since we put up any lights for Christmas. I really can’t remember the last time we did it — three years ago? Four?

We put the lights around the crape myrtles a couple of years ago, but that was a bad idea — we never took them down, and the year’s worth of sun and heat and rain predictably destroyed them.

I think last year we just kept putting it off, and before we knew it, it was too close to Christmas to make it worth our time.

But this year we got the tree up earlier than ever, so what were we to do on a cloudy Sunday afternoon?

Of course, the Boy was eager to help. He loves going into the crawl space with me, but the roof?

Are you kidding? What more could a nine-year-old boy want than to spend some time on the roof?

And a little bit of football time with Mama to boot? What a perfect afternoon!