Holiday What?

Ol' Abner has decreed that the Christmas decorations must be cleaned out soon. In the last couple of years, only one of the four Christmas trees has been erected, using only about a fifth of the tree ornaments encased in plastic totes. Various holiday decor to celebrate the season of cheer, has been left in the basement unused for several years. In the hubbub of the holiday, I usually go down and pull out a few of the containers, remove some of the treasures and lug them upstairs. Many of those "treasures" have never seen the upper level of this house. With multiple moves, we acquired several trees of varying sizes as we migrated from big house to tiny house and back to average size house. Of course all the scratched glass balls can be pitched out, the kitchy gag gifts received in holiday party exchanges should have met that fate when they arrived, and other decorations have not worn well with time. Ok, mentally the task is almost done, uh, maybe not. Those handmade dough ornaments and cardboard frames with photos inserted by tiny hands cannot go. They haven't made the cut for the themed tree in several years, yet I cling to the memories of young hands and faces clutching these little productions. Oh dear, it is only August and I have the urge to go downstairs to reassure myself that the treasures are safe.