Twinkle

I love Christmas lights, even when it's well after Christmas.  During this cold and dark time of the year, it warms me in every way to still see Christmas lights aglow in our community.  I'm just not ready for them to be extinguished yet.  When it's as cold as it's been recently and is still dark much of the time, Christmas lights uplift my spirits and bring me cheer.  I'm OK with letting out the air of the inflatable reindeer and removing the plastic Santas from rooftops, but I'd just like to see the Christmas lights in place and turned on for a little longer.  As a result, our indoor Christmas lights are staying lit through this month.  We have a large basket in our living room brimming with multi-colored ornaments interspersed with a string of colorful lights.  Although this little display has been in place for over a month now, I continue to feel content when I turn off the living room lights, save for that brightly lit basket.  Ah!  Comfort and joy!

Superbly Lit

We're now into February and I can't see any Christmas lights anymore.  Some happy souls in our community kept up their Christmas trees and outdoor Christmas lights through most of January.  I'd drive by those homes just to make me smile.  At our hospital where I work, I'm in charge of the healing garden, which is brightly lit for Christmas from early December all the way through January.  With the change to a new month, we've turned off the fairyland blue and white light display.  As in previous years, some of my hospital colleagues lamented the return to a dark garden, for the lights provided a cheery welcome and farewell to employees working their shifts around the clock.  But, now that February is here, we're looking beyond the short month to the return of Mother Nature's light and the promise of spring.