LIGHTING THE WAY
We live a fair bit out of the way to be a part of anyone’s
twinkle tour. Houses in rural
Saskatchewan are getting further and further apart – there are fewer farmers
farming much more land than was the norm a couple of decades ago. And, it’s not uncommon for them to decide to
live in town, as well. It makes for a
feeling of privacy, tranquility, and peace for those of us who choose the
country life.
But, when I put up my outdoor Christmas lights, I know very
few people are going to see them.
It doesn’t deter me though.
I have grandchildren who think they are pretty and they spend a fair
amount of time here over the holidays; I do it for them.
And me. I also do it
for me.
I began, years ago, with a fifteen foot blue spruce just
east of the house. What’s the point of
having a Christmas tree and not decorate it, after all? At first it took two strings of lights, and
then three. I am now up to four strings
and that doesn’t take the lights to the top by any means. But it’s as far as anyone can go without a picker
truck. Sadly, I do not possess a picker
truck.
This year I went ahead and bought light string number five
before I was forced to accept my lack of picker truck capabilities. It took me a cup of tea and a half hour of
contemplation before I decided that this was an opportunity, not a set back,
and went back out to devise an optical illusion Christmas tree down by the
well. Not only did a single string of
lights create a tree, this one could be seen without having to leave the house. I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned
out.
But, the yard looked unfinished so off I went to town and
bought another string of lights for my little Amur maple tree. To look at the actual bulbs on this string is
misleading. They are tiny, insignificant
things but the light they put out is amazing; the colours dazzling. And, even better, this tree is almost right
out in front of the house. It lights up
the whole front yard. It also lights up
my smile as I do the dishes after supper – out there, twinkling in the dark,
the wind giving it movement and extra sparkle.
There is also the indoor Christmas tree. I still buy a real one every year, refusing
to think about the money I throw away every January. I love the smell of the real ones. The prelit artificial ones just don’t have
the rich, bright colours I like to use.
This time of year has too many hours of darkness; I need all the light
and colour I can get!
As much as I love all of my trees, though, it’s the laser
lights that have never worked properly since I first brought them home that I
love the most. They were the first
generation of the laser option and I paid crazy money for them because my whole
family was going to be home that year and I wanted the best of everything. These things are designed to be installed
outside and aimed at the house, projecting a light show of moving lights or
shapes across the building’s walls. Mine
refuse to move, or blink, or do anything but shine.
From the outside this is a disappointment. When the plan was for dancing lights and
changing colours and all I got was pin points of red and green in a static grid
pattern, I felt gypped. But, life went
on and our house filled to bursting, and over that crazy, dizzy, noisy holiday
I grew to love that my interior walls and ceilings were decorated in Christmas
coloured dots of light. They acted as
decorations, as night lights, as red and green freckles on anyone standing in
their beams. They have never worked
properly but I wouldn’t dream of not putting them up every single year. They stir the memories of that 2014 Christmas
every time I see them.
A few of their beams even make into our bedroom and shimmer
across the stippled ceiling. I don’t
know why but the laser beams that are sharp and clear in the air out side but
once through the window glass are refracted in a way that make the lights look
like lace when they hit the wall. It’s
the last thing I see before I fall asleep and the first thing I see in the
morning.
One of my favorite things to do this time of the year is to
take a twinkle tour drive to see what people do to decorate, and I welcome
everyone to come see mine if they want, but unless you come inside for a cup of
cheer you’ll never see the ones I love the best.
