Tag: lights

Posted in neighbor, neighborhood

Crazy lights in the driveway

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I think I’ve written about this guy before. He’s been systematically ripping up his sod and putting it out for trash collection.

However, on this most recent walk, we noticed the lights in the driveway. If you look closely, you’ll notice that he drilled holes in the driveway for his solar lights. That’s right, he can’t pull his car out unless he lifts them out of the holes in the concrete.

I know. both my wife and I scratched our heads. What’s going on here? He’s got thirty-two solar lights in his yard and driveway. Not along a walkway. Not along the driveway. Through the middle of the yard.

Dementia? Perhaps. A bigger project in the works? Maybe, but I doubt it. This guy is off the wall.

Posted in Moments of grace

It’s not very dark at night

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Meet Gada on Unsplash

Yesterday, I noticed the dark, the quiet, and the solitude of my predawn morning walk. Today, I noticed the lights.

  • The night sky is filled with lights: the moon, stars, a few planets, and the red and green of an airplane far overhead.
  • Street lights extend from utility poles light up some of the intersections as well as random stretches of road in the neighborhood.
  • I’m surprised at how many homes keep the lights on each side of the garage or atop a front walk lamppost lit all night long. They are bright, illuminating the driveway and the cars parked there. Security lights shine into every corners of backyards.
  • You’ll also see a lit up doorbell on most homes. A tiny little light just to the side of the front door is on all the time, but you’ll only notice it at night.
  • Those who support law enforcement display a blue light on the front of the house.
  • Solar-powered landscape lights are still on, lining driveways and front walkways. Sometimes they shine lights up onto trees and the side of houses, creating interesting shadows.
  • Sometimes I’ll see a single red light on the side of a house, near an electric meter. It must alert someone that something is working correctly. Or not. Who knows?
  • Just above the trees I can see the tall lights above the soccer and baseball fields. The action begins early on tournament weekends.
  • I carry my flashlight when it’s dark. Some walkers and bikers wear flashing red or green lights so passing cars don’t miss them.
  • I can see tiny blue or green alarm lights flashing inside parked cars. they are armed and ready.
  • Today, the headlights of a car delivering newspapers (two people on my block still get a paper delivered) roared past me before pulling sharply into my neighbor’s driveway just long enough to fling the paper somewhere in the yard. Just as quickly, his taillights disappeared around the corner.
  • Lights are on inside homes, too. Others are up at this very early hour, too. The flicker of TV screens peeks through the front window curtains.
  • Some neighbors leave their Halloween inflatables inflated and lit all night long. Strings of orange lights frame doors and lay across shrubs.
  • And appropriately, lights shine on the American flag, either from the base or the top of flagpoles.

It’s not very dark at night around here. And I’m sure we’re just a few days away from the first Christmas lights.

Posted in Christmas, grandfather

Christmas ‘ites

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Screen Shot 2017-11-27 at 1.36.13 PMMy grandson Elijah was spending the day with me while his mom was out shopping with my wife. One of our projects that day was putting up the Christmas tree. I just knew it would be a memorable moment when I plugged in the lights and he saw them for the first time. He’s been watching and waiting for Christmas “‘ites” for weeks. I was not disappointed. His delighted “Oh-Oh” still makes me laugh out loud.

What is it about Christmas ‘ites that excites and delights people of every age? We’ll stop to look at house with simple candles in the window as well as those covered with thousands of colored bulbs. We’ll go out of our way to drive by those homes that are lit up in creative ways. We’ll climb ladders, walk roofs and wrap trees to light up our homes and yards. We’ll got for walks at night, as dark lonely streets suddenly come to life with the rhythmic blinking of strings of lights. We’ll stop and pause, on foot or in our cars, just to gaze at a brightly lit home we never really noticed before. Unsightly strings hanging from eaves take on magical shapes and designs when darkness comes and all that can be seen is the light.

Just as a starry sky on a clear cool night reminds us of that night out side of Bethlehem lit up by a multitude of the heavenly host, perhaps a simple string of lights takes us back to that earthly moment of heavenly glory. And who wouldn’t like some of that as we pray and wait for the brightness of a new day in a world where there is far too much darkness.