I confess that I am a whore for Christmas lights. I love those houses that decorate for the season, way beyond the point of sanity. I will with an un-explained joy in my heart, go miles out of my way to view these wonders of electrical excess. I must also express my own sorrow at not being able to create one of these joyous wonders in home.
I have been in love with Christmas lit homes for as long as I can remember. One of the best things as a child was coming home after a Christmas shopping trip, and seeing the house on the hill in Johnsonville, clearly out lined in a multitude of colors, bright enough to land planes by. I still wish for the tree in White Creek, taller than the house it grew next to, strung with lights; put on each year using a boom truck [their electric bill doubled each Dec. Dad stopped one year so I could walk under the magic tree, and he asked]. There is a house on Harwood Hill which puts up so many white lights, that I believe not a square inch is left untouched. There is something so grand about lighting your world, adorning your shrubs in electric jewels, that tells the world of your love for the season of darkness.
The first time I drove to Maine, just before Christmas wasn’t really to go shopping. I had read in “Yankee” that the Nubble Light House in York is lit with thousand of Christmas Lights each year, and I knew I had to see it. I’ve been known to take long walks in dark sub-zero temps around villages, to enjoy looking at the lights. The distance is never to great to view a great light display. I once drove a hour out of my way, following a traveling Christmas light show; a cement mixer that ST Griswold covers with twinkling lights, hoping it would stop. [It did and I got a photo of it]. I feel that it is my Christmas duty to enjoy the hard work put into these displays.
That leaves me with my own great sorrow at this time of year. I have never lived in a place where my effort in decorating can be seen by those driving by. This is probably for the best however, because my efforts are really sad. None of my homes have had the type of architecture that is shown in a good way by twinkling lights. I can’t even pull off the simple classic candles in the windows, do to a lack of plugs [yes I know there are battery powered candles, but they don’t match, and go through a ton of batteries]. I tried one year to put lights in a tree that was about ten feet tall, it looked good for a few nights, until a big wind rearranged the lights, and I just couldn’t get them back in place.
Oh I still try, although I’ve been reduced to a couple of blow up lawn decorations, and lighting what can only be described as a three foot tall bush. So no one’s going to come to my house for the joy of a light show. I however will be in my truck, driving far and wide in search of brightly lit Christmas homes. So please do your part, for me, and string some lights.
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