LIGHTS, LIGHTS AND MORE LIGHTS

A series of essays.....

~~A Bright Red Star~~

.....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes



"Do you see the magical glow yet?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"What happens Thanksgiving Day each and every year since we built this house fifteen years ago?"

"Well, you cook the turkey on the grill.....however, I've yet to see it burst into flames and create a bright light!!



Happy Birthday Lights

I swear this banter between us went on for several agonizing minutes. This is usually 'down time' for us as we sit on the lanai after dinner and talk about our day.  So, a pop-quiz or silly riddle to solve was above and beyond peaceful to me just then.  Considering he had recently  roasted our Rosemary, lemon and clarified butter 'bird' to perfection on his trusty Weber Grill and it had been his birthday the day right  after this.....I decided to give him some slack and play along.

Gazing above the screen enclosure facing a southwesterly direction...hint, hint, hint, he asked me once again, "Do you see the magical glow yet?  You know, the one that lights-up the sky and tends to figuratively 'suck-up' everyone else's energy source until after New Year's Day?"

I'm not remotely suggesting that any form of bright light source graced our softly greying evening sky as I followed his gaze towards the southwest.  As a matter of fact, it wasn't even late enough to catch a fleeting glimpse of the distant firework displays emanating from the various theme parks that thrive several miles away in that direction.  After some careful reasoning on my part, however, the proverbial 'light bulb' suddenly began to shed its light down upon me.  Thank goodness!

"Ahhhh!!  My goodness...how on earth could I have forgotten?" I asked myself.  "I get it...I get it but, I find it difficult to believe there isn't a visible 'glow' over there.  Maybe they moved.  Or, maybe the wonderful HOA (Translation: Crappy Home Owner's Association) put their 'Bah Humbug' stop to it this year!"

"I don't think they can do that...they could try but, I still don't think so," Dan said, with a slight sneer on his face.  Our HOA can be quite a sore subject for us.  But, as I often say....another story, another time.

Sitting there for an additional fifteen minutes or so, watching the detailed  shadows of varying shades of gray slip into a world of deep, impenetrable black, I couldn't take the suspense another second and jumped-out of my chair!  "That's it!  We have to take a walk around the neighborhood!  I have to know!"

I have always referred to our small (by Orlando standards), gated community as 'A Small Slice of Heaven' because our seventy-three stone and stucco homes rest on the old Morgan homestead that featured a working mill that once ground grain into flour and was powered by the small stream that runs right behind our subdivision.  I would enjoy being able to step-back in time and see the waterwheel that worked the machinery of Mr. Morgan's mill and take-in the sight of the many cows and other farm animals that I've been told grazed on the lush grasses growing along the water's bank.  One Floridian family lived and loved, worked and played, flourished and then disappeared long ago...in another era; a different lifestyle.

Grabbing a light jacket to help ward-off the chill of an autumn evening, we proceeded out the front door on our quest for visual affirmation.  Following our street, Morgan's Mill Circle, to the right, we were seven houses back from the bend in the road....and one gentle right turn before the proof we had been looking for would be staring us in the face....or not! 

As we approached house number five, I realized I had forgotten my handy-dandy cell phone which I have come to rely upon as my 'camera-on-the-go' more often than I care to admit. Apologies going out to my trusty Canon EOS.  "Do you want to go back for your phone before we turn the corner?  I suggest we do it now.  It'll only take a few minutes."  Dan was right.  Finally, with i-Phone in hand we backtracked up the street.

Passing house number five, number six, number seven and curving to the right....we stopped dead in our tracks!!  It was like discovering the Holy Grail right in our own backyard or, seeing the Eiffel Tower for the very first time or, watching that lone deer jump out in front of your moving vehicle on a snowy back road in Michigan and your heart stops in mid-beat!!! Yes, just like all of the above......

"Just Around the Corner"

LET THERE BE LIGHT.....or, in this case, so many wonderful, amazing, fascinating and colorful lights in every conceivable and imaginative holiday configuration.  "They've done it again!" was about all I could say because my finger on the phone's camera button was busy snapping away at this amazing sight.  Dan just stood there, mouth open, in absolute awe. 

"Closer....."

I am certain that from a bird's eye view or if looking down from one of the commercial jet liners that pass near us on their landing path into the Orlando International Airport a few miles to the south, a definite glow can be seen radiating up from our neighbor's house. Usually, that many lights on one property could be considered distasteful or gaudy and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation comes to mind here.  However, somehow these folks are able to pull this one off in a joyful, Christmas 'bright' kind of way, with interesting new additions to their 'madness' configured every year.  I only wish I could find some of the original pictures I had taken years ago to be able to contrast and compare today.  I know that the roof had been devoid of lights back then and at least some of the front yard was empty and visible. 

Before our feet could move us further down the street, we reasoned that the bright street lights located near their house must minimize the effect of a  'magical glow' that we hoped to see from our lanai.  And, maybe, just maybe it's all in our heads, anyway.  I will say that by the time we got up close enough to be able to distinguish the unique little compartments making-up the complete picture of this monumental effort, our hearts were once again enlightened by the sheer amount of work put into it. 

"You notice that the people living around it don't even bother to decorate their houses?"  Dan, logically, replied to this, "They don't have to.  All they have to do is keep their curtains opened and they can share in the 'Light' all season long!" 

"Closer still....."

I chuckled to myself thinking that if anyone around that house needed to go to sleep early, black-out curtains on their bedroom windows might be in order.

We finally tore ourselves away from the 'Light' and were able to walk away, even though I found myself turning my head and looking behind me several times.  How could I leave it?  The sight calls and beckons like a moth to a flame. 

Side View

"Where do you think they will go from here?" I asked my husband as he was literally pulling me along....away from the 'Light.'  "I haven't a clue.  Hey, don't we ask ourselves that question every year?  Somehow they always manage to extend themselves."

Successfully making it past several houses down the street, I snapped a picture of another neighbor's decorating efforts and suddenly the words, subtle, calming, clean and tasteful came to mind.  Oh, and did I mention the word....pretty?

Nice Try!!!

Taking into consideration that our 'rambunctious neighbors' happen to live in the center core of the subdivision, with both sides of their house openly exposed from two of the three streets comprising Morgan's Mill, that crazy light bulb flashed-on above me, once again.

"I know the answer," I said, while looking at Dan with a sheepish grin on my face.  And, all I could envision was strings of colorful lights, candy canes, stars, snowmen, presents, trees, wreaths and Saint Nicks slithering over the rooftop like so many bright snakes invading our neighbor's current dark and colorless backyard.....!

Merry Christmas from Morgan's Mill Circle, Orlando, Florida, USA!




Copyright © 2014 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved