The Humbuggery Xmas Ramble

I remember that time in my childhood when my Dad enlisted help from his brother with the Christmas lights, because my father had in mind something big for the outdoor decorations. Lights on the porch, around the front window, in the bushes, a creche scene lit from above and from within.

Uncle Bill, like my Dad's other brothers, had an absolute contempt for safety precautions, especially when imposed by meddling bureaucrats. You can take your codes, St. Louis City, decorate your tree and stick the whole thing where the angel sits. He cut up these cheap strings of Christmas lights and spliced them all together with electrical tape. He put everything on a single circuit in a house that had old wiring and a less than competently installed fuse box. How the hell somebody didn't get electrocuted or the house didn't burn down, I don't know?  

Note that our terrace had no grass then, and maybe we didn't want to draw attention to that. Never mind, my Dad went ahead with it. Wouldn't you know, at the end of Christmas, my Dad took the entire tangled, jury-rigged kludge of lights, put it all away, and used it again the next year.  
 
I'll admit, Christmas wasn't all it could be this year, but then again, I'm an atheist. I call my winter holiday "Humbug," as declared by that great prophet of the 19th century, Ebeneezer Scrooge. But the idea of Humbug is no lights, no tree, no decorations, no presents, no cards, no Santa, no special movies or TV shows. I won't rule out music, but who am I anyway? You just get together with those closest to you and have three good meals.

We have this Christian celebration with so many pagan things hung on it, and we add in commercialism. Now Christmas is actually unhealthy for people. More accidents, more heart attacks, allergenic Christmas trees, and unsafe Christmas lights electrocuting people.