Christmas Lights After the New Year

Big oak trees on the farm where I grew up. Great shade for cows

After a frustrating few hours trying to get my car registered in Georgia but to no avail, I finally learned I had to contact North Carolina DMV.

I can't get a Georgia tag for my car unless I can show them my title which states I am the owner of my car. The document must be from NC showing where my car was registered the last time.

This was only the second day of aggravation for me and for Gay, my sister. We sat in a room with about 100 people waiting to see someone who would help me get a title and Georgia tag for my Toyota.

I was sick with a bad cold, but I had to get this before registering for my new car insurance. Another of those Catch Twenty-Twos. After two-plus hours of misery, my number was called. When I sat in the chair in front of the booth and told the woman behind the counter my dilemma, she promptly told me she could not get a replacement title, and without the title, I could not get a tag.

"This car is registered in NC where you just moved from. You will have to get your title from North Carolina." 

Remember. I was sick with a cold that had my nose running constantly. I was so miserable. My response was, "Why didn't someone tell us that? We expected you to get the replacement title. If we had known you couldn't, we wouldn't have wasted over two hours sitting in a hard chair with all those people." 

But, even though I was feeling so bad today, I got dressed and went to lunch with Gay and Lee, my niece. I knew I would feel better with them than sitting at home stewing. And that is when my day became brighter. When the three of us get together we laugh and crack each other up with our comments. 

However, the highlight of my day was tonight when Stu wanted to take us out to eat. We went to my favorite place, Slopes, in Roswell where I had the best fried catfish. 

On the way home Stu suggested we look at the Christmas Lights still up in many places. Most of them were beautiful, but once in a while, we saw a fallen angel or reindeer lying on the ground. Gay saw a set of pretty lighted deer in a yard, but tonight one of the deer lay on its side with only half the lights burning. He looked more like a camel now with a wide saddle of absent lights on his back. A setting of large snowmen was missing one on each end as they sprawled on the lawn.

Once lovely trees covered with hundreds of lights now had gaps in the coverage. A tree might seem to have a hole in the middle because the lights were missing. We began laughing at the conversations we imagined inside those big beautiful houses. 

"Dad, Look outside. Some of the lights on one of the trees are out." 

"Mom, Dad said we're gonna take down those lights in a few days. He said there's no point in trying to make them work now."

"But they look stupid now."

Balloon Christmas yard decor

I could imagine couples discussing the condition of the yard decorations, the balloons meant to be aloft. Big balloons that looked like characters from books lay half-empty on the lawns. I imagine the big gusty winds we had a few days ago played havoc in the yards of prominent people with fancy decor.

In our yard, a big gust swooped down and lifted the lightweight carport covering my car, and dropped it on the side of the roof. Within minutes, as I stood watching a second huge gust came in and lifted the carport again, dropping it down to rake across my Toyota, denting in a fender and scratching a long line across the trunk. Before we left the house, I asked Stu to take my car out of the carport area and move it across the yard as far from the "flying car umbrella" as it could be taken. And now my car is out of harm's way, I think. 

Life has its ups and downs, but when I am with Gay, Stu, and Lee, I am almost always laughing or feeling good. 

One day soon, my car will be registered with a Georgia tag. One day soon, I will have new insurance for my car with an agent here in Georgia. But tonight the laughter and love I enjoy with my family makes me smile and tonight I will sleep well. Tomorrow is another opportunity to enjoy life. 

Gay with Stu who is holding a giant Elephant Ear leaf in Hawaii.
picture by Glenda Beall

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