New year brings some questions

Here are a few questions to ponder going into the New Year:

•When should outdoor Christmas lights go up? And when should they come down? When should they be on? And when should they be off? As I write this, the outdoor lights at our house are still lighting up the joint. But then again, I am writing this on the day after Christmas.

There seems to be no hard and fast rule on these things.

At our house, my wife and I tend to agree about when the lights are put up outside but we tend to disagree about when the lights should be on or off.

She believes in saving energy and using a timer. My festive spirit wants the lights to be on as much as possible.

Our compromise is that we use the timer up until about Christmas Eve, when it is over-ridden by my desire to have the lights on.

As to when they are taken down, tangled up and put back in the attic, that largely depends upon the weather and the NFL.

•Which gives you greater reason to worry: A blizzard? Or an ice storm?

•Don’t you feel guilty if you drive off to work or school without properly clearing off your windshield in winter? Admit it, all of us have done it at one time or another. And all of us are relieved when we reach our destination unscathed.

•When was the last time you made a snowman? Wouldn’t you like to make one?

•If you lay down in the snow to make a “snow angel,” would you need help getting up? I suspect I would.

•Without sounding too judgmental, isn’t it true that one good way to value a neighborhood is by seeing how many folks shovel their walks after a snowfall? If every walk is cleared from one end of the block to the next, you know folks care about their property and about others. And if no walks are shoveled, you know you really don’t want to live there.

•When was the last time you made a New Year’s resolution? When was the last time you kept one? If it involved losing weight or giving up smoking, did it work? Or did it just make you more depressed going into February?

•Is there some inherent wisdom in the fact that it is great fun to throw a snowball and absolutely horrible to have one hit you in the head? Can someone come up with a sermon on the Golden Rule based upon that observation? I leave it up to the pastors among us.

•If you are a survivor of the Blizzard of 1978, have you yet learned to keep your mouth shut? It was a remarkable time, but, trust me, the kids are tired of hearing about it.

•When was “black ice” invented? It didn’t exist in my childhood, at least not with that name. I blame TV weathercasters. Ice is ice, and drivers who don’t know how to handle it are probably those featured in the evening newscast.

•Isn’t it true that as we get older we get in and out of the car differently? These days I look like Tim Conway’s “Mr. Tudball” character as I get in and out of the car. The car still looks sporty, but I sure don’t.