Seeing all the houses decked out in
lights made me think about the lights my Dad put on his house and back to the
first time he did so. To understand why
this was a big deal to us kids, you have to know my Dad rarely bought things
when they first came out. He always
waited a couple years to make sure the manufacturers worked out the kinks in
their products and that the prices would come down, plus he did not like to follow
fly-by-might fads. We kids realized it was the start of the Christmas season
when my Dad brought out his big ball of tangled lights and begin to unwind it
to test that the string still worked and replaced any burnt out night-light
style bulbs.
I remember when I was very young; a
few of our neighbors had decorated the outside of their houses in the years preceding
us. Dad took us down the street to look
at them, where of course his many children oohed over houses that seemed to us as
bright and colorful than a store display.
One year, my Dad did his annual untangle
and test of the lights in the living room.
I’m not sure when or how, but those large lights disappeared from the
living room floor. Mom brought out the
new twinkle
lights, Dad did something to some of the bulbs, and then he and Mom wrapped
them around our tree. When they finished,
all the children were called in to watch as the lights were plugged in. We were so enraptured by the blinking lights
that we did not notice Dad sneak out while Mom put ornaments on the tree. She let us children add tinsel icicles to the
branches we could reach. While we were decorating, we heard noises outside
the curtained picture window behind the tree and were a little concerned. Mom told us it was nothing to worry about. Sometime later, Dad comes in the front door
and loudly proclaims “Kids, come and see!”
Outside we saw Dad had put our old-fashioned
multi-color lights all around the big picture window! Mom had left one of the windows opened a
crack behind the curtains and Dad had feed the plug end of the string through
the window. Mom plugged in the lights
and then came outside to join us. We
kids were thrilled to have lights on our house too. We thought that big rectangle of bright
lights was beautiful.
The first time my Dad put up lights outside
was the year we switched the tree lights from the colored night-light style
bulb to the twinkle lights. From that
year on, I remember there being Christmas lights around that window as long as
my parents lived in that house. For many
years after, before the lights came out my brothers and I would ask, “When are
you going to put up the lights Daddy?”
When the ball of lights came out and began to be untangled, the boy’s
question would change to “Daddy, can I help you put up the lights?” The first time they asked, Mom said “No, you
might get electrocuted.” Dad pointed out
that electrocution could not happen as the lights were not plugged in until
they were all up. However, we were only allowed to watch him put them up until
my older brothers were in their teens, and then they could help.
I only remember one year in which my
Mom worried that my Dad would get electrocuted by putting up lights. That was because it was a very rainy night
with lightning when he did it. He was
going hunting that weekend and told Mom, “I need to get the lights up for the
kids before I go.” It was pouring while
he hung the string of lights, and they were plugged in as the porch light did
not illuminate well enough in the pouring rain.
We kids were not allowed to go outside and watch because of the rain, so
Mom opened the curtain over the big picture window so we could see Dad
working. (I think she was actually
waiting to see if he got hit by lightning so she could quickly call an
ambulance but she did not tell the children that.) When Dad was done, he came
in drenched with a big beaming grin and an “I told you it would be okay.”
directed at my Mom. It may seem like a
little thing, but to the children Dad seemed like a big holiday hero that year.
Do you want to know what happened in
much later years? Go to The
Story Continues.
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