Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Night Lights

Manzanita roots. My husband has had these for a long time. They look like trees but very durable. We painted them white a couple years and have always had lights on them. I would unplug them every night many years ago. Then my 80-year-old neighbor fell ill and her husband told me she loved to look out at night and see the sparkly lights coming from our window. From that night forward, I never turned them off and now buy the lights by the case. I always have them on for Millie.

One time D's mom got back home to Kansas after spending a couple of weeks here at Christmas she complained about her house felt very dark. I started thinking of how in Texas (and maybe in Kansas) we keep the windows shut all the time to keep out the heat. And how claustophophic I feel when I am there. Here we open the shades everyday to LET the light in. We suffer SAD here in the Northwest. MUST HAVE LIGHT is the motto. And then I realized, really our house is always lit by the tiny lights on the roots (trees). So walking through the house in the middle of the night, it is not dark. And I knew what she was talking about and I felt bad she had to go back to a dark house.

Night Lights

4 comments:

Deborah Boschert said...

I want to be your neighbor so I can enjoy the lights too.

liz elayne lamoreux said...

Beautiful. Our neighbors have lights on a tree outside all year round and they always make me happy. I love the idea of putting them up in the house to light up a room all the time. Though I have to ask, what are manzanita roots?

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous of your roots, they look so graceful & elegant & comfy all at once!!!

Growing up I would always stare out the backseat of my parents car at a few homes in Boston that always had lit up little doorjams visable from the street, I adored it.

Kim Carney said...

I tried to look up Manzanito root online to get a picture, to no avail. My husband found them in New Mexico. He says they were just lying in a dried up creek. They are very sturdy, almost dangerously so if you run into them. But when I saw he had these in his house, love at first sight - with him!

Llllinnndddda....where is your 20 things?