Lights
I used to be able to wake myself up at four in the morning. When I was very little, that was standard for much of December. At least, I remember it being frequent. Christmas trees: I love them. The smell, the greenery, the ornaments, but mostly... the lights. I would wake up and creep into the living room, turn on the tree, and curl up on the couch to watch the shadows on the wall. The lights themselves are pretty, but the colored feathery shadows on the wall are the best. When I was little we had a little box with a button to change the blinking pattern of the lights on the tree. It was mesmerizing. The shadows and lights were so beautiful. One of my favorite toy stores had a selection of cardboard-framed glasses that would break tiny points of light up into prismatic shapes. Put them on and suddenly the tree is full of shining colored snowflakes. When the bus drives over the river at night, I look off the side of the bridge, down at the dark water, to watch the patterns of ri...