To a degree, I wish that Christmas lights weren’t so associated with
Christmas, since a lot of people like myself, use them all the time. Nowadays, any holiday that has a different color scheme from Christmas will have strand lights available:
Halloween,
Thanksgiving, etc. I picked up a nifty strand of all
purple ones when all the
Halloween stuff was up in, what,
August?
Maybe it’s just because I live in New Orleans and moved here right from college, where Christmas lights are year round decoration. Italian restaurants use them, as do many bookstores and bars in the Quarter, and I’ve always liked them. They have that way of softening things at night, creating a warm glow where normally there would only be neon or spotlights to advertise establishments. Maybe it’s also because I’m 24 and still like having a night light, something low enough to guide me to the bathroom and keep the monsters away. Now that I’ve moved my mattress directly to the floor, they now have one less place to hide.
All my friends use them all year round, usually the all white ones. They let you see shadows in kind, shallow corners. They cast light upward and outwards but don’t get in the way of other things. You can drape them over anything or pin them up in swirls, or even stuff them in a jar, like one of my friends does. They are like the memories of friends in that way, the memory of light not completely snuffed out.