Lights

Written by cycleguy on December 3rd, 2012

One of my fondest memories of Christmas growing up was the lights.  Dad didn’t go overboard by any stretch, but he would put lights in the windows and on the banister, shrubs and trees outside.  He used these big humongous bulbs outside and smaller ones inside.  There was no such thing as flashing lights or twinkling lights. Back then it was “do you want your bulbs small or big? Inside or out?”  The outside lights would illuminate the house and (if there was any) snow.  Inside the lights would leave a soft glow that would set a mood that said, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”  Christmas tree lights would add to the ambiance.

I am ashamed to admit that I did not carry on that tradition.   Jo puts the tree up Thanksgiving Day and we use a lot of lights and tinsel.  They stay on 24 hours until she takes it down.  We went through a stage when the girls were younger of going out to a farm and cutting down our own tree.  Keeping a cut tree alive when I did that was a trick in itself, but the lights added to the “feel” of Christmas.   I also loved the smell of pine.  But real or fake, lights played, and still do, an important part of our celebration.

However, never…no make that NEVER would I ever think of doing what some do.  Not only do I not have the time, I also do have the budget, nor the patience, nor the technological know-how to do what some are doing.  I wanted to shift gears a bit with this post and give you something to feel good about.  So I have included a couple of Christmas light displays for your amusement.  i am sure you have seen these before.  I also know it isn’t very serious, but who says we have to be serious all the time?  Christmas is a time of celebration.  Enjoy.

Here’s the first one.

Here’s the second one.   Here’s another take on the same song.

You can check out more on your own.  Hope you enjoyed today’s post.  Do you do lights?

Make sure you check out Sele’s post and also Ed’s.

 

 

29 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    My daughter and I put up a tree. I only turn the lights on when she is with me. This actually says a lot about me and my struggles.

    • cycleguy says:

      Or it can be seen as something special between you and your daughter. We leave our lights on all day and night. Love the ambiance. 🙂

  2. Jan says:

    WOW!!!! I was amused 🙂 I LOVE lights and just a couple of years ago I finally got rid of those big bulbs that we would use outside & the smaller bulbs that we’d put on the tree, I was afraid they’d start the tree on fire they got so hot! I enjoyed this post very much. Thanks for making me smile tonight Bill.

    • cycleguy says:

      I was blown away by how many different videos of lights there were. They even had Metallica doing Enter Sandman on one. That was crazy! Those bulbs def got hot. The new ones are so much safer. Glad I made you smile jan. 🙂

    • Jan says:

      ha! Since I have Metallica loving sons, I will hunt that video up & share with them. 🙂

  3. Steve Martin says:

    Every year my dad would take us for a drive into the well off neighborhoods in the foothills around So. Cal., where the homes were large and entire neighborhoods were all decorated and lit up.

    I remember one neighborhood in the Burbank foothills where almost all the houses had a giant star (lit up in various colors) on top of their roofs.

    Good memories.

  4. Zee says:

    TSO lights are fun, but only because I like TSO… I guess I don’t get why you’d spend so much money and effort on blinking lights (I don’t lights when they blink… either they have to fade in / fade out or just stay on…)… *Shrug*

  5. Eileen says:

    I LOVE Christmas tree lights. One my favorite parts about Christmas time is sitting on my couch in the evening and just looking quietly at the lights.

  6. Betty Draper says:

    Excited this year to be able to take our grand children for a drive through to see a free light shows in some neighbors.

    Not sure why you cannot see the clip Bill…

    Sharing is the Christmas Spirit so thanks for the pictures of the lights.

  7. floyd says:

    I do lights… I didn’t for years. In the years of chasing the wind I missed out on the magic of the mind, grasping how short time really is. Funny, just yesterday I wrote a post about lights that I’ll be posting next week. I think when the Holy Spirit moves upon us He moves in multiple hearts at a time.

    We have a house in our neighborhood that is like that second one. It’s amazing. It is linked to one of the local radio station’s music and the street is always jammed this time of year. The kids do it in honor of their dad who they lost when they were in high school. They went to school with our oldest two daughters.

  8. Never did outside lights as a kid, but my wife and I put up a few for our kids. We have lights on the tree that stays lit all day, every day during Christmastime. I like them, but not enough to work real hard at it.

    • cycleguy says:

      I like lights but refuse to work my tail off or freeze my fingers (or other extremities) off putting them up and taking them down. 🙂 Good to hear from you Matt.

  9. Ed says:

    I put up a good display of lights and rockscape decorations in the previous years (well good for our landscape anyways). But I will be skipping it this year due to not being motivated enough. Same thing with the tree. I thionk I will take a cue from my neighbor and glue some lights on a triangle piece of heavy, green colored cardboard and put that in the window, lol.

  10. Desert Jim says:

    I’m not too much for decorating our house. I hang up what Cindy makes me put up.

    I miss the days of the big colored bulbs.

    There seems to be a growing industry for people willing to pay someone to decorate the outside of their house for Christmas.

    • cycleguy says:

      Sounds like the best philosophy is “yes honey. Whatever you want honey.” LOL I will be one who will NOT join in having someone put my lights. WOW!

  11. Debbie says:

    🙂 You keep making me smile and enjoy Christmas more and more! I love the lights the best, I think. My hubby doesn’t do any, but I put whatever we have out each year, and some inside ones too. And ya, the tree has lights.

    A few years back, there was a young boy in our town, who had a rare form of leukemia and they weren’t sure he would make it until Christmas. So his mom and dad put up all the Christmas lights and decorations early, because he loved them so. Then the neighbors learned what was going on, and they put their lights up early too. Soon the whole town caught on. I cried a lot that Christmas, but it was really a beautiful thing, for everyone to join together to bring little Dax some joy. Mathew West did a song about it . . I’ll try to find it and include it here. God bless you!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye39mgcHC3E

  12. tcavey says:

    I love the lights…I wish we could do it all year round (but then the joy and beauty of it would fade).