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It’s beginning to look – faintly – like Christmas. Faintly,
because in my hometown downtown and throughout most of my neighborhood, people whose
hearts are brimming with holiday cheer and environmental responsibility are
stringing energy efficient, low-wattage, LED Christmas lights in an attempt to
demonstrate both their seasonal spirit and their social conscience.
It wasn’t like that when we were growing up Downriver. About
half the warmth we felt during the holiday season was from the love of family
and friends; the other half was generated by the Christmas lights that
decorated our homes inside and out!
Big bulbs – maybe 10 or 15 watts - and they were bright. So
bright that we had to squint when we looked at our Christmas tree, or drove
downtown with mom and dad to ooooh and aaaah at the light display. And they
were hot. My favorites – Bubble-Lites – were hot enough to, well, boil the
stuff inside them that made the bubbles!
Current social standards would label the lights we grew up
loving as “dangerous” and “irresponsible.”
Dangerous? Well, a couple generations before we were kids,
families were lighting their living room Christmas trees with candles; so, I
call our lights a big improvement in home safety.
Irresponsible? OK, really, how much fossil fuel did we
actually squander between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day back in the 50s and
60s? Don’t try to tell me that today’s Global Warming crisis began when I was a
kid, in Riverview, helping dad string Noma outdoor lights (equipped
with “Safety Plug” technology!) through the bushes in front of our house on
Hinton.
I know … I have to accept that times have changed. The only
place I can find the lights we grew up with is eBay, and maybe the Henry Ford
Museum. So, I’ll take my
kids downtown one evening this week to uuuuh and aaaah at the light display.
“Uuuuh and aaaah?!”
Yep – I’ll say, “uuuuh, I think they’re lit, kids …” and
then “… aaaah, there they are!” when our eyes adjust enough to the darkness to
be able to make them out.
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| Bubble-Lites were my favorite - hot enough to boil the stuff inside! |
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| Dad strung Noma outdoor lights in the bushes out front; my job - check the bulbs. |
