Christmas Lights Make The Holiday Magical

There is something magical about the month of December. I love driving home from work in the early evenings when people are just starting to turn their outside Christmas lights on. The Christmas lights give a sense of peace to me. If there is a layer of snow on the ground or some falling snowflakes, it gives this magnificent glow that seems like something out of a fairytale.

And in a sense, it is out of a farytale. Outdoor Christmas lights are what many a children's story has been written about. Picture the scene in almost any Christmas literature or song, and the image in your head comes to life as you drive down a well decorated neighborhood road. And if you're lucky enough to see one of those horse drawn carraiges that give tours during the season, well again, it is something magical.

Some people can't stand the cold weather and are not fans of Christmas, but I love the entire month of December. Sure, Christmas Day is wonderful, but the magic of the season is only intensified by all of the Christmas lights and décor. The malls are always decorated with thousands of Christmas lights and there is always festive music playing in the background. It's funny, but I hate going to the mall all year, but I love it during Christmas. That is as long as I'm not Christmas shopping. I go simply for the beauty and atmosphere. Even the radio stations rotate some festive music in the hourly play lists.

At HersheyPark, in Pennsylvania, they decorate the amusement park with millions of Christmas lights. It is open every evening during the holiday season and to walk through it is purely an adventure. The children can visit Santa and the park brings in real reindeer to add to the spirit. My children loved all of the décor, and I adored the Christmas lights. Of course the kids love the rides as well, but somehow they aren't as important at this time of year as they are in the summer.

My husband dreads the holiday season because he knows that means he'll be recruited to decorate the outside of the house with the Christmas lights. Decorating the inside of the house is my job, but he's responsible for the outdoor Christmas lights on the trees and on the house. What always amazes me is how carefully we put them away at the end of every season, and how tangled they somehow become over the year. After finding a mouse nest in the midst of the Christmas lights one year, he now opens the holiday boxes outside.

We decorate the front porch rails and shrubbery with white Christmas lights. I always stand back to make sure that they look perfect before I let him walk away from his decorating chores. There is nothing that bugs me more than people who don't take the time to neatly decorate. They seem to just throw the Christmas lights on their outdoor trees and wherever they fall, they land that way. Well, since we're on the topic, blinking Christmas lights annoy me just as much. I don't understand the point of them.

There isn't any season quite like Christmas. The decorations can be so elegant and heavenly. The Christmas lights give the houses a warm and healthy glow. Driving past houses with their Christmas trees lit in the windows makes me smile. People tend to be happier and more generous in nature. Unless of course, they are fighting over parking spots at the mall.

I don't mind though. A little extra walk from my parking spot simply gives me an opportunity to further enjoy the outdoor Christmas lights. Even in the bitter cold, somehow the chill doesn't seem quite as bad if I have the glow of the lights to warm me.