Fairy lights — even the name sounds magical. They’re pretty, calming, and definitely historical. What do you mean you don’t know what Fairy Lights are?
Sure, you do — you just don’t know it — Christmas lights!
But in all honesty, I had never heard that name before. To me, they have always been Christmas lights.
The human eye is just naturally drawn to light—the moon, a firefly, a campfire. And what is more lovely than Christmas lights reflecting off snow and water? They can be multi-colored or single, blink, and even change color.
The first electric lights were displayed in 1882 by Edward Johnson, a close friend of Thomas Edison, and we all know that name. But it wasn’t until 1903 that boxed string lights became widely available. My favorite from when I was tiny has been Bubble Lights. I vividly remember watching them hanging on our family tree, and I would just be waiting for the first bubble to rise. Pure joy!
Scandinavians and Germans are the first cultures to decorate their homes specifically for Christmas. They would put candles in the windows to welcome weary travelers, particularly Christians. They traditionally burned a Yule Log, meaning ‘the Christmas season,’ Christ’s birth. The log was large enough to last from Christmas to Jan. 6th, The Twelfth Night. What was left would then be placed under a bed for good luck and protection from lightning and fires. We are crazy Scandinavians (laughing).
For a time, I lived on the same road as two very dedicated and competitive Christmas light decorators, Al and Clarence. On one side of the road, Al would arrange beautiful displays of mini-villages, lighted deer families, and soft, blue lights around his pond and footbridge. Across the street, Clarence had built Vegas-strip North! Flashing lights, spinning wheels, a blinking tree atop his flagpole, and a six-foot neon rooster that burped bubbles when he crowed. Depending on your particular holiday ilk, either could undoubtedly deliver.
So, it’s the night before Thanksgiving. Maybe a little early in the season, but I decided to tour the lovely town of Creswell (where I just happen to live). I wanted to take a picture of the perfect Christmas light display to share with you.
Oh my gosh, you may as well have asked me to pick the next Miss Universe!
So many were so pretty – some very subtle, like a single string along the front walkway; others were phantasmagorical! But then, there it was, ‘the one’. It looked like “Tara,” that antebellum mansion from “Gone With the Wind.” Maybe not exactly, but close enough to make me stare. I took a few pictures, but a phone camera is a poor substitute for professional photography. So, since the American Civil War started in 1861, and electricity wasn’t discovered yet, there’s no chance Scarlet O’Hara left the light on for Ashley, let alone a lighted Christmas tree. Scratch that place.
Let the lights do their job.
Let’s forget real life for a while — car repairs, light bills, broken promises, and endless shopping. Let’s think about “the light of the world,” “His star in the East,” a softly lit manger, and a candle in the window. Give your mind a much-deserved rest. Merry Christmas to all, and all a good ‘light.’
