Refestooning

When I was first married, my husband and I lived in a very small town not unlike the one where I had grown up. Each year, weather took a toll on the community’s holiday decorations — wreaths that had hung on the light posts and garlands that had stretched across Main Street looked a little shabby when taken out of storage for the season — and residents were asked to gather for a night of “refestooning”.  The announcer at the local radio station was given an announcement from city officials, to read on the air: “Please join us for an evening of refestooning the town’s holiday decorations.”  It was a fun night and made for a nice sense of community among the locals — plus it added the word “refestoon” to my vocabulary, which in itself has provided a lot of fun over the years.  There’s so much anger and fear and judgment in the world right now.  I think it would be wonderful if this season, no matter which holidays we choose to celebrate — religious or secular — we would make time to refestoon our hearts.