LET THERE BE LIGHT!

   TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4TH., 2018
           LET THERE BE LIGHT!

   While I was in Scranton doing my weekly
program for Electric City Television my wife
was outside stringing our modest set
of Christmas lights over some shrubs in our
front and back yard.
    About a mile away there's a beautiful
home virtually outlined in holiday lighting.
It's as close to the Griswold's (of Christmas
Vacation movie fame) as you're likely to see
around our neighborhood.
      I got to thinking about how much
Christmas decorating has changed over my
lifetime.
       Back at my home in Hazleton our
visible decorations consisted of a wreath on
the front door, candles in the front and side
windows, and our Christmas tree which was
strategically placed so as to be see by people
driving or walking by.
        A few homes added colored lights
around their front porches and now and
then you'd see a house outlined in lights.
        98% of the trees were real  and most
of them were covered in tinsel. It looked
like streams of ice that reflected the tree
lights. What we didn't know, at the time,
was that most of it was made of lead which
was probably slowly poisoning us!
         Of course I never did like it because
it fell onto my Lionel train tracks shorting
out the system!
          Last night I watched as several families
in various parts of the country competed
for big bucks with house and yard Christmas
displays that can probably be seen from
outer space!
         One winning family showed off an
elaborate display that boasted 4 million
lights! I had to laugh when I thought of
doing that back in the 1950's. Back then
if one blub blew out your entire display
when dark! Imagine tracking that one
bulb down when it's one of 4 million!
          I'm glad that family won the
$50,000! They'll need it to pay their
December light bill!
           Hope your lights are on and
that all your NEWS is good!