Christmas Lights

One of the things I most like about Christmas is the traditions found in it. There is a great deal of general and personal tradition involved in celebrating Christmas. From religious to secular tradition to the ritual shopping to just being nicer at Christmas time, it's all a good change from the norm. As a child my mom and dad started a number (or perhaps carried over their own from their own childhood to my brother and I) of those traditions. One of my favorite was decorating the outside of the house with lights and driving about the neighborhoods of the city to look and compare displays.
We started to decorate right after Thanksgiving Day, usually with only lights, the old style large multi colored bulbs. In those days lighting options for Christmas decorations were limited, so a person who wanted to show off usually just put out more of the same kinds of lights as everyone else used, and added animated displays or figures to enhance it. Some people made their own displays by carving and painting wood figures.
Since people in New Orleans love a celebration of any sort, garish displays were common and appreciated. When we went "lighting" (riding in car and observing the outdoor lights in front of houses in the city neighborhoods) it made it feel more like Christmas than any other time of the Christmas season. Certain business and residential homes had spectacular displays every year that drew huge crowds of sightseers. We looked forward to seeing them and wondering what would be added to the display each year. This still goes on to a lesser degree, though now most of the bigger lighting displays are at businesses rather than in front of private homes.
I can still remember as a young boy, my dad picking me up on cold nights and carrying me (while I was dressed in those pajamas with the feet attached) to the car for lighting trips. I was always excited, though some nights I fell asleep due to the lateness of the hour and missed the hot chocolate my mom made for us to drink when we returned after a nightof living a small but wondrous part of Christmas. I continued that tradition with Jane until last year, when she was no longer interested in what she sees as a"child activity".
No matter to me! I still go lighting (as part of my exercise) on my bike while riding though the neighborhood at night during the Christmas season. Those who think they are too grown to enjoy Christmas lights must have lost some of their imagination, for I do think that only the unimaginative could not appreciate the glitter of the displays. I know what Jane now fails to realize, that looking at the lights is an eternal, almost blessed, joy of Christmas. But she will discover that again when she takes her own children lighting one day. Viewing Christmas lights and displays isn't just for little ones.
Tonight I enjoyed the show as I rode my bike throughout my neighborhood, evaluating each display and being grateful to those who spent the time and resources to give the joy of Christmas lights to all who pass through. The displays are just as beautiful, maybe more so now, given the advances in lighting technology (Thanks to Japan, for that!), as in my childhood. But then, one always idealizes most those childhood joys they remember.
As I rode through the lights tonight I thought about Tokyo or some other Japanese city, places that are lit like Christmas trees every day of the year. I am sure the residents don't appreciate the glow, for it is not a special thing to them. We have quite a few light displays in my neighborhood this year. There are religious displays with mangers (some illuminated and some not) showing the baby Jesus and the shepherds and wise men. More prevalent are the garish secular light displays. The modern lights are smaller, the large multi colored globes replaced by smaller and brighter ones.
Some people have white icicle lights draped from their gutters to simulate snow, a bit of an oddity in semi tropical New Orleans. Others have multicolored lights or all red, green, blue ones draped in bushes, along gutters, in trees etc. There are also figures of Santa, a snowman or some other relatedChristmas figure, about 10 meters high and inflated with a constant stream of air. There are smaller lighted or unlighted figures in the neighborhood too. And some people put up lighted Christmas trees or unlighted garlands and wreaths that surround the entrance to their homes or adorn the front door. There was even one Hanukah display out tonight too.This year I have red lights in the azalea bushes in front of my house, green lights on two juniper trees in front of the entrance, some signs displayed with messages about the Christmas season and some wreaths on the house and on the front door. I omitted some of the more garish objects that Jane liked as a child, the big Santa for instance (who is now faded and weathered after more than 10 years of Christmas display).
Whatever Christmas decor is out I always will appreciate it, and I almost feel a bond with those people who take the time to decorate and lighten their homes, for the little kids....and the big ones like me.