Like a re-occurring nightmare, I found myself up there again last weekend.

The wind blasted my face as I clung to a teetering ladder clipping Christmas lights to the gutters. Light by light and foot by foot, I made my way around the house throughout the afternoon. The sun set just in time to reveal how many lights had broken during the installation process.

What was the point of even checking them beforehand?

I swore I'd never do it again. After going through the hassle last year, I vowed to shift to the ground level this year. The top of the fence was good enough, I told Kaity. I wasn't going to deal with scaling a ladder again.

But alas, Turkey Day 2021 rolled around and my wife started catching whiffs of the Christmas season floating in with the northerly winds. I noted the forecast looked nice over the weekend, which proved to be my undoing.

"Perfect weather for you to put up the Christmas lights," she quipped.

Why do I even speak?

Despite my simmering dread, I didn't put up much of a fight this time around. I knew my fate – better to just get it over with.

I really need to switch to LEDs. The lights we have are the large old-fashioned kind, and they break or go out way too easy. After I put them up there's always at least six out, forcing me to lug the ladder around the house once again to replace the ones that are dark. Inevitably, I break one or two more during the "repair" job.

As you might have surmised, I'm not much for the Christmas season. I leave that up to my better half because I'd just hate to steal any of the joy of decorating away from her. They say it's good for couples to have different hobbies, anyway.

The only silver linings I can find with slamming my ladder against the roof for an entire afternoon are clean gutters. Since I'm up there anyway, I take the opportunity remove leaf accumulation – one less trip up the rungs come spring.

Nick Pedley is the news editor of The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News.