The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
Isaiah 9:2
We are on day 255 of 15 days to slow the spread.
Tonight, the City of Richmond lights up with RVA Illuminates, a virtual celebration that replaces the traditional Grand Illumination downtown.
I’m just glad there’s still a downtown to light up.
Too soon?
Normally, I’m doing my best to leave downtown early on this Friday because I want to avoid the traffic. Or,
like the last two years, I’ve had an early afternoon call for my performances at Kings Dominion.
This is not a normal year.
I’m glad we’ll still see the outlines of the buildings lit up.
We need some festive lights.
We need a lot of festive lights.
I’m one of those people who never thinks you can have enough lights on the Christmas tree.
When we moved into our neighborhood over twenty years ago, the houses, mostly colonial in style, all that the traditional white candle lights in the windows.
I made a determination to be the rebel and started collecting lots and lots of Christmas lights, and trees, and nativity figures and more. I never made Richmond’s official Tacky Lights Tour because there’s no way I was ever going to climb a ladder to hang lights from the roof.
Sorry. Not sorry.
The last year I really went all out, I did something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I covered the boy’s play fort with lights and made it into a gingerbread house. It was cool by the firepit.
Then I started getting rid of the lights. I miss them, but not the work involved with putting them out. I still string some festive lights on the front porch and Santa adorns the back deck.
What I miss the most are my LED palm trees that I used to have on the deck. They finally became victims of weather.
I bought the first one on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $20. I have priced them recently at $179.
I usually get my needed fix of Christmas lights at the amusement park. I mean, being there every night for six weeks is pretty magical. I’m not there this year, but I’ll be going for one evening to their smaller event.
I have put the weather dudes on notice. Don’t mess this up.
Anyway, it’s Friday, and I’m off soon to my first official Santa gig of the season.
If you know, you know.
The lights of Christmas tell a story.
Sure, some people say that it’s so that Santa can find your house. Trust me, Santa loves the lights, but he’s got skills and is much better than that.
In reality, while many just look for a reason to be festive, there’s just one reason for the lights.
Whether people want to acknowledge it or not, there’s one reason for the season.
The light has come.
Photo by Tina Witherspoon on Unsplash