I don’t decorate for the holidays. 

The stockings hung in my living room have been there for a year now, left up last holiday season because no one ever took them down, and I simply didn’t have the energy to store them away. 

Along with the presents that will pile up on the dining room table to keep them safe from puppy dog teeth, they represent the extent of hall decking to be done chez Sager this year. 

I’m the one Martha Stewart has nightmares about. 

The reasons for this are complicated enough to require more room than this column can provide, but I must start here for you to understand what’s to come. 

Because about a week ago I woke up in the middle of the night and made a precarious walk to the bathroom in the dark, and a colorful glow of lights shining through the window surprised me. 

It may have been the hour — it was the middle of the night after all. Or it may have been because I haven’t been able to find my misplaced glasses, so I was flying (well, tiptoeing) blind through the house. 

But as I stood in the bathroom doorway and drank in the colors of my neighbor’s Christmas lights, I felt what it must have been like for the Grinch to hear all the Whos of Whoville celebrating the holidays despite his antics the night before. 

My heart, fortunately, did not grow three sizes in that moment (and if it did, I assure you I would be calling the cardiologist’s office for a consult). I did, however, head back off the sleep feeling like I’d been given a special sort of gift. 

Because a simple set of holiday decorations had made me feel something. 

I felt ... warm? 

I felt warm in a way that only holiday lights glowing in the dark can make you feel. 

I felt warm in a way you need to feel sometimes when the world is feeling ever darker and ever colder, and you need to be reminded that there are things that remain simply good. 

I am not going to decorate for the holidays this year for so many, many reasons. 

But on behalf of those of us who can’t, I want to say a simple thank you to those of you who do. 

Your simple act of good is enough to warm the soul.