Christmas Lights
Here she is—our 1905 historic home in the mountains of North Carolina all dressed in her Christmas best. We love sharing this light and warmth throughout the Christmas season, and here’s the rest of the story…
I was first introduced to Brandon’s love of Christmas in 1999, not long before he and I started dating. My sister and I had a small rent house in town. One day, Brandon stood in my tiny yard, looked up at our tiny house, and said, “Man, that peak over the porch would look so good in lights!” He bought everything he needed, he got a friend to bring a ladder, and he started installing. It was all good and fine until he nearly went into anaphylactic shock when he poked his head into some ivy growing on our eaves! He regained his breath and his color, and kept going. I should have known then that his affinity for Christmas decorating would only grow stronger.
Just a couple of years after getting married, we bought our first home. I don’t think he had ever been more excited than that first Christmas there. For days I heard the clanking of the ladder and the spitting of the staple gun as he attached a light to every line and corner of our entire roof. The lines and the bulbs stood so straight that one night one of his students stopped to knock on our door to let us know one single bulb along the top ridge was burnt out. He was so grateful—he was also on the roof before they could even back out of the driveway.
A few years later, we bought another home, closing on it just two-and-a-half weeks before Christmas. I kid you not, while I was assembling beds to sleep in that night, Brandon was already setting up the ladder and untangling lights.
When we first saw this beautiful mountain home in Fall 2020, we both dreamed of what life for our family would be like here—and Brandon dreamed of covering this old girl in lights. He talked of Christmas trees in every room and garland draped from all the banisters.
We spent Christmas 2020 in our house in Austin and didn’t move in here until December 27. But that didn’t stop Brandon from decorating here anyway. By the time we slept in this house for the first time, he had put up two Christmas trees before I even knew where all the light switches were. I should have known then what the following Christmas would look like.
This beautiful display is really a work in progress all year long. Whether it is a new clip for installing lights or second-hand toss pillows to add to the porch swing, he is always preparing for the next Christmas season. By November, every tub, light, extension cord, timer, power strip, clip, and yard stake is out and ready to be installed. He works by headlamp when the sun goes down. He employs the help of everyone in the family. He uses the diagram he drew the year before and makes tweaks along the way. He carries extra fuses, bulbs, and blackout caps in his pockets. He keeps electrical tape and the staple gun close at hand. He uses two different ladders and sometimes a lift. He is a real life Clark W. Griswold where sometimes the lights don’t work, or there’s a slip off the ladder, or the tree doesn’t fit in the living room, but at the end of the day, it’s really about having the “Hap-hap-happiest Christmas!”
Because what I have learned from Brandon over the years is that this is not about the show, this is about Christmas. It’s not about how many lights are on the house as much as it is about bringing light into the lives of others. It’s not about the number of Christmas trees in our home but about the warmth and glow it brings to every person in every room. It’s about Christmas being a gift to each of us and then sharing that gift with others.
This home has been such a gift to us and we are so happy to, in turn, share that gift with our family and friends, and with our neighbors and community.
May you all receive the gift of light and warmth of this Christmas season—and if you’re in the neighborhood, drive by!
