Light

Biddy sent me a link to the enchanting light show on the cathedral at Litchfield, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtAE-GiRpFA&feature=youtu.be) which set me to musing about 'the meaning of Christmas'.  I have been borderline ranting about Christmas lights, when in fact,  I must admit that I do enjoy, them, even the ropes of lights across the street which flash on and off like strobe lights and charge through the spectrum at breakneck speed. The effect is like a disco ball, more prone to inducing a seizure than announcing the birth of Jesus. But then, what do the giant inflatable figure of Santa Claus and snowmen, brightly lit and standing tall at night but deflated and sad when the compressors go off durning the day* have to do with that either? 

There's probably a secular reason why Hanukkah is celebrated at this time of year. This is the first day of that winter celebration called 'the Festival of Lights'.

It was Lady Findhorn's tale of people getting up in Edinburgh in the dark to go to work and coming home from work when it is still dark (how well I remember that) that made me realize that although the tradition of light comes much more from a basic need for light at the darkest time of the near. It is more fundamental even than being able to see...although we learned a lot about how fundamental THAT is when our power was turned off for days on end in October. We're working on alternatives. the second extra is a a display on John's phone of the power being generated by our solar panels. 

We humans crave light for a morale boost, a reassurance that we have made it through another day, a source of warmth and comfort. On this shortest day of the year as I watch the sun, (which appeared  briefly this afternoon) sink  
below the horizon, I'm appreciating not just the warm light of the fire, but the cheerful displays and colorfully lit trees all over the neighborhood, and feeling grateful that by the time the last Christmas lights come down and are put away for next year, the days will be getting longer. 

*extra