This Exeter Life: Joy to the World

I can’t get enough Christmas lights.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not talking about the energy guzzling Griswold-style Martian landing pads that some among us find so festive. I mean Christmas lights on a community wide scale.

It is such a delight to be out after dark on a cold winter’s night and to see the twinkle of window candles, lit trees, glowing wreaths and decorated Christmas trees encouraging me on. My mother always says it makes her sad after Christmas to see people disconnect their holiday lights, and I agree with her. The winter night seems so much colder and lonelier when the lights go out.

And just as there’s something nice about lighting up the outside world, I find it equally reassuring to bring a bit of that lit outside world indoors. Selecting and putting up a Christmas tree just might be one of my favorite activities. I’ve always preferred being out-of doors to in. As a baby, I used to take my naps outside in a bassinette under a tree, so I assume I was imprinted with the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world early on. For me, selecting a tree and bringing it indoors each Christmas reaffirms a connection to the cold and dark world that seems so inaccessible at this time of year.

As much as I don’t want to start celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving, once that holiday has passed I can’t wait to install my Christmas tree. Growing up, I had a small artificial tree in my bedroom that I’d dutifully decorate each year. I loved being able to go to sleep in the glow of the lights. Even though the tree was plastic, there was something magical about having a lit tree by my bedside each night—like nature’s sentinel watching over one of its disciples.

Over the years, I was trained on the proper installation of lights under the watchful eye of my father. The secret, if you don’t know, is a lit core. For those of you who did not receive proper training in how to achieve maximum illumination, please review the protocol below:

Step one: Run one string of large bulbs at the center of tree running along the trunk (Lighted ice is the best, but hard to find these days, so a strand of large colored bulbs will suffice.)

Step two: Test and install strands of colored lights, taking care to run the lights in a zigzag fashion from the tips to the trunk. In-out-in-out. Work from the bottom up. If they blink, they’re broken. Throw them out and move onto another strand.

Step three: Finish with strands of white lights. Personal preference can dictate whether to lay the strands along the outer tips of the branches or to follow the in-out-in-out pattern of the colored lights. If you'd followed the steps and used enough lights, the Christmas tree should be the only illumination you need in the room.

Shortly after I put my Christmas tree up this year, I was picking something up at Exeter Jewelers. I got to chatting with the clerk, who turned out to be a neighbor, about where exactly I lived. When she discovered what house I lived in, a serious look passed across her face. She leaned in a little closer, her eyes scanning the room for eavesdroppers, and asked in a hushed voice, “is that your Christmas tree in the upstairs window?”

“Why, yes it is!” I happily admitted.

“Oh! It is JUST beautiful,” she went on. “When I came around the corner and saw it sparkling in the window from all the way down the street, well it gave me such joy!”

What a wonderful compliment. I know how just how she felt. Your lit garlands, wreaths, bushes and trees have the same affect on me. Every corner I round, every new block of holiday lights I discover gives me such joy.

We’re over the hurdle. Today there will be a little less darkness than yesterday. But we still have a long way to go before the light returns and the cold abates. So while we wait for the inevitable passage of time, please consider leaving a few lights on for me.

And may the holiday bring you joy, one bulb at a time.