The Lights

Holiday lights are one of my absolute favourite things. 

I know I’ve written about them before … but they bring me so much joy I’m writing about them again. Spoiler - this is probably not the last time I will write about them either. 

I have the lights on my tree on, all evening - every evening.  One of the perks of it getting dark around 4pm.  I can enjoy my lights for several hours.  Sometimes I just stare at the tree … it makes me calm … it makes me happy.

Slight left turn … Georgie Cat used to sleep on the tree cover under the tree … I have dozens of pictures of her curled up there looking cozy and utterly adorable! Two Christmases ago - my first Christmas without her - I couldn’t have the lights on.  The tree brought me no joy.  It just made me sad.  Last year I didn’t put it up.  I didn’t want to see it.  This year … I thought, maybe … it brings me joy again … apparently I just needed time and space … 

When I’m out in the evenings - for whatever reason - I take the craziest routes home … All so I can see the lights in different neighbourhoods, on different paths … music on, smiling all the way … 

I’ll travel to small local-ish towns just to see their light displays.  Some just do up the town squares … some do crazy full out displays! The lights make the cold less noticeable … less cold.

There are a few light installations I’m interested in seeing this year.  One I’m taking my niece too - it’s a little commercial and may or may not be worth the hype but we’re doing it anyway.  The other is free - one of those towns that does it up along the water and you can walk through and explore the lights. 

While I’m not big on crowds - at all - I do appreciate that people come, they take advantage of the accessibility, the beauty, the outdoors … They get out and appreciate that towns still do this.  It’s one of those times when seeing lots of people makes me smile … I like that these things draw people in. 

Instead of doing Christmas greens this year, I did garland along the balcony and added some ribbon and some lights.  It fills the balcony out, adds colour and life - both of which were missing after the fall when the flowers died.  My neighbour recently knocked on my door to tell me she enjoyed them too.  That made me smile … I’m glad someone else is enjoying them as much as I am. 

Tonight I have dinner plans - I’ll take the longest way possible home so I can enjoy the lights on a route I rarely take anymore - but used to and loved how they did up their Christmas lights.  These are the things that make me smile. 

Honestly, a boy could ask if I wanted to walk through “insert light display here” with some hot cocoa and I’d be down … I’d say it would be one of my best dates - but company matters. 

I love that my nieces get joy from the lights as well.  I always feel like magic lives in the smiles the lights create and I love they still have magic in their lives. Every life deserves a little magic!

Normally I don’t have my decorations up until the first of December … Given I needed a little extra time to figure out where everything was going to go this year - mine went up at the end of November - so a week early.  I noticed others had theirs up just after Remembrance Day.  This year felt heavy … Not necessarily bad … Just heavy - there was a weight to it, one that is finally easing … Maybe I’m not the only one who felt it.  Whatever the reason, I appreciate wanting to extend the magic of the season, creating a little joy where we can, when we can.

All of that is to say - I’m glad I had the extra week. 

When crazy comes, the over scheduled, the busy, driving through lighted neighbourhoods, taking a moment to sit and appreciate my tree … these moments are the deep breath.  

At this time of year those moments matter … They can get missed, but they matter.  I love the stillness in those moments.  I have those moments in the early mornings, sometimes in the late evening.  So finding them, making them, stealing them throughout the day … It’s like a secret between me and the universe … Like catching the eye of the person you love across a busy holiday table and the noise disappearing - just for a moment … I love those moments. 

As always - or at least of late - my brain goes down these random rabbit holes … memory, distraction, nostalgia … 

I hope you take the moments this season … Find your deep breath … In whatever form that looks like to you. 

For me - it’s the lights, of course it’s the lights. It’s always the lights.  

Find the pause. The calm. The joy.

Those are the moments that stick, that get recalled randomly and make us smile. Those moments are what collectively make up a life … somehow, this is the season that reminds me of that … Maybe it’s the collection of events with friends, with family … Maybe it’s just  the time of year … Maybe I’m just sentimental.  

Whatever it is … I’m ok with it … I like the reminders, I like the memories that are randomly top of mind and I like the lights.