As I type this, the snow is falling thick and fast. The roads are slippery and some sidewalks are invisible. There was a vicious wind this morning when I went out to gather just a few things and lugged two heavy bags full of treats back to my cave - and it isn't even winter yet. I know why our ancestors almost hibernated at this time of year, and why they put weight on in the fall. I think it's ingrained, that instinct to eat and eat because who knows when the next mastodon will pass by. So, I will enjoy my treats, in moderation, and postpone regrets until the weather improves, or until I forget to regret, whichever comes first. After all, it's gloomy out there. It gets dark enough now to need lights on in my apartment by four-thirty in the afternoon and sometimes even earlier.
For me, lights are an essential part of the celebration and the anticipation of return of the sun after the shortest day of the year ends. I do my best to conserve energy, but I must have Christmas tree lights, and lights on in my living space when the skies are grey and the weatherman predicts still more greyness in the days ahead. By 5:30, my lights will be on and they will stay on until it's time for me to go to sleep. There are incandescent lights on the Christmas tree, in my reading lamp and in the ceiling fixture over the dining room table. The rest of the lights are those wriggly energy-saving bulb thingies, and daylight fluorescent tubes in the kitchen. They do not please me.. Incandescent lights give a warmth that other types of lighting don't provide.
Besides, incandescent is an inspiring word, "intense in feeling, expression, ardent," according to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary. I need all the inspiration I can get.
Enjoy the season of lights.
4 comments:
You, too, Diane. And enjoy the lights!
I love to look at the Christmas lights on the houses as Joker and I go on our nightly walks. They brighten things up.
And of course, my Christmas tree brings a little joy during this dingy time of the year.
Enjoy your lights, Diane. And keep a stiff upper lip - Spring is only five months and ten days away!
Pam
One of my favourite lines in the new version of Pride and Prejudice has the new Mrs. Darcy making a comment about being incandescently happy...I love it and I get it.
With your descriptions, I could almost see the whole scene. Nicely written! Now I have to go heat up some hot chocolate and sit by the fire as there isn't any snow here.
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