密歇根新闻广播 过度装饰的圣诞节

My apartment has enough Christmas decorations to make some people gag.

In my living room there's a strand¹ of lights on the Venetian blinds. More hang from the ceiling. There's a seven foot-tall Christmas tree and a three-foot tall stuffed Santa by the window.

My roommate laughed when I put it all up.

Everyone who's come to our apartment in the past month or two has laughed... this same kind of bemused chuckle².

They laugh, then I laugh, because this is just a fraction of my total Christmas decor.

I've got boxes and boxes of lights and knick-knacks still sitting in the closet.

I'm a 25 year old single guy who's very into the Holidays.

That makes me a bit of an odd duck but I come by it honestly.

My dad proudly displays a life-sized, light-up nativity on his lawn. He listens to Christmas music 3-months-a-year.

When I was a teenager I started collecting Christmas decorations so that when I had a place of my own I could be properly festive³.

Now I get decorations as gifts for every birthday and Christmas.

I've got a growing collection of Christmas kitsch and I don't know how to stop.

Except, these past few years my mystical feelings about Christmas have faded some.

When I was trimming my tree this year, it felt a little bit materialistic⁴ and meaningless.

I looked at one of my Santa figurines, and I can imagine his cheery red face wasting away in a landfill, cracked and broken. Sitting there, trash that holds no real meaning for anyone.

At first my friends' laughter at my gaudy⁵ Christmas display seemed to echo those doubts.

But there aren't many chances to celebrate joy for joy's sake.

I inherited this tradition of Christmas pageantry from my family and I'm re-interpreting it now to fit my own sensibilities. I'm embracing a role as some sort of Christmas jester. I'll keep stringing up all the lights and garland I can.

When I'm too old to deck the halls and all my ornaments⁶ fill a landfill, I'll remember the smiles on friendly faces lit-up by the glow of Christmas lights, and the laughter, and the good-spirited amusement at my efforts.

Michigan winters are depressingly long, and cold and dark. In this season, there's some joy to be found in bringing unabashed holiday cheer and light to my loved ones and neighbors, and to all.

1 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

2 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

3 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

4 materialistic   

a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的

参考例句：

• She made him both soft and materialistic. 她把他变成女性化而又实际化。
• Materialistic dialectics is an important part of constituting Marxism. 唯物辩证法是马克思主义的重要组成部分。

5 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

6 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》