Stringing Christmas lights on a house is something for younger folks to do

It probably has happened to you like it did to me this weekend. You string up several sets of Christmas lights only to find out that half of them are not burning.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

After putting lights and greenery on the columns outside our house and covering several bushes with net lighting then, when I plugged them, half of them were not burning.

On one column the top half was not burning and on another the bottom half wasn’t burning. No choice but to take them down and replace those not burning. Here is where it gets upsetting. I took those not burning back into the house and when I plugged them in they lit up.

It is understandable when you get older your enthusiasm for decorating is less. But because I’ve done it for a million years the warm temperatures forced me into doing it this weekend.
Oh, half of the net lights didn’t burn either. This necessitated a trip to the store for new lights. I have promised myself I will not go through this torment next year, but I probably will.
With the virus keeping us indoors most of the time I’ve tried to rely on television to fill some of the void. The problem is there isn’t much on TV that interests me. I rely on Netflix and You Tube to help.

While searching on You Tube the other night I selected an old Glen Campbell show. I had forgotten how good TV was many years ago.

On that show was my favorite Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, Liberace and Jerry Reed. Also, there was a full orchestra and backup singers. It was outstanding.

Compare that to today’s variety shows. Now we get amateurs on the Voice and America’s Got Talent. Years ago we had great comedy shows like Seinfeld, Cheers, All In The Family, Everybody Loves Raymond and more. I won’t mention the present shows but they don’t compare with those.

Today we have better televisions and many more channels but far fewer good programs. Did I mention the Carol Burnett Show or the Smother’s Brothers, Andy Williams, Perry Como or great cop shows like NYPD Blue?

I have to stop. I am being overcome by nostalgia and I could mention many more. There are some good shows on now, just not as many big production shows with big time stars as in the past.

The key to all of this is to crush the virus so we can move about more freely. The pandemic has been hard on many businesses including us at the News Journal. But there is hope for a vaccine.

It is easy to see the difference between the states that have cracked down on the issue and those where nothing has been done. For example, South Dakota where no restrictions were put in place has led the world in the outbreak of COVID-19.

Some places in Europe have made it mandatory to stay at home to prevent the outbreak of the virus. California is considering the mandate now. So you see it could be worse here.

Those states that took severe action have suffered less economically too than those that did little to prevent the spread of the virus.

The COVID-19 surge has been brutal. November alone proved earlier predections with about a third of the nation’s total cases reported in just 30 days.

Hospitalizations more than doubled and the United States had more deaths than Australia, Canada, China, Japan and Germany combined.

It is not over folks, wear a mask!