Tonight is a typical December Seattle evening. Steady rain with a wind that is picking up. And it’s been dark since 4:30pm. I allowed myself to come all the way home on the bus.
People were evidently busy over the weekend hanging Christmas lights. I really enjoyed the bus ride home, listening to Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge in an old Campbell Playhouse performance of “A Christmas Carol” (introduced by none other than Orson Welles!) I’ve been listening to podcasts of old time radio Christmas shows as an antedote to the madness where I work – and I think I’ve found a whole other realm of entertainment to explore at iTunes.
Anyway, I saw some gorgeous displays of lights. Unfortunately, the camera on my iPhone does little justice – else I would post photos.
One thing that’s nice about Seattle: many people leave up their lights long after Christmas is over. I usually have Christmas lights going in my apartment until the clocks go forward in March. My rule of thumb is that you may keep the lights going as long as it is dark when you get home from work.
The idea of lights is a pagan one in any case – about brightening up the most dismal time of the year. It’s really an observance of the winter solstice rather than Christmas itself – so there’s no reason to hurry over taking those lights down:)
