Tree Take Down and Mixed Messages

Last night was the one of the days I dread each year, the day we have to take down our Christmas tree.  I fight doing it until the tree represents a really serious fire hazard in part because I don’t want to let go of Christmas.  I think this tree reached that point last week. I loved coming home and being able to see the tree as soon as I turned the corner.  My wife finally put her foot down last night and the tree was defrocked of all ornaments and I was then faced with the daunting task of getting it outside.  The tree seemed to have enjoyed its stay so much that is had really spread out.  This coupled with a full water basin, since it stopped taking in water shortly after Christmas, made this a challenge.  Buddy was enjoying the adventure and was charging in to assist me whenever he felt it was most appropriate.  This usually meant the worst possible moment for me, but I do love that dog.  After I crawled out from under the tree, I went downstairs and came back with a set of pruning shears.  Three cuts later and the tree was out the back door.  Buddy was a little disappointed with the anti-climatic termination of the fight.  Earlier in the day I made reservations for my wife’s annual return to visit her folks in Panama.  She really does hate cold weather, something she reminds me of semi-constantly.  We had plans to go down to Panama together in March to celebrate our 30^th wedding anniversary along with her parents’ 60^th.  She had been dropping some fairly definitive hints over the last few days (coincidently with a cold front) that she wanted to go down early and have me join her there for the celebration.  So when I came home with her ticket she responded with tears and said she felt bad leaving me alone for so long.  When I reminded her that this was exactly what we had agreed to the night before she said that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to miss me.  This is the confusing thing about dealing with the female of our species.  I go out and do exactly what she asked for and she gets emotional and upset.  She has such a big heart that she was honestly upset but this morning she seems to have recovered (it was 15 degrees outside).  She leaves in a couple of weeks and I’ll spend the time leading up to that fending off light hearted accusations that I have a woman in the wings waiting to come in and warm the bed in her absence (she seems to think they’re lurking in the tree line out back).  I’ll really miss her because she’s a tiny person but she fills up the house and my heart when she’s around.  Buddy, I’m sure, is looking forward to more quality time with me and a certain lack of structure in both of our lives during her absence.