let there be lights

Rural life, it is said, differs from the pace of life in urban areas. The rhythms of rural life are supposed to based on the cycle of seasons: it is the calendar, not the wristwatch, that dictates the activities of rural folk. In this annual cycle, it appears that when the turkey leftovers are put in the fridge, out comes... the Christmas lights?

Christmas lights of course aren't new; they've been around since an electric company executive put them on his tree in 1882. Nor are Christmas lights limited to rural areas. There are a few places in Boston with lights. But living in small apartments limits the scale of Christmas light displays. Hong Kong, with its love affair of neon, has embraced the idea of Xmas lights for its commercial spaces. It was jarring to see even the skyscrapers owned by the Communist Chinese government proudly displaying a flashing Santa Claus in his sled. (Unlike New Years decorations, only a few Christian and expatriate households in HK decorate for Christmas.)

What's new for me is the passion that people around here have for Christmas lights. Several neighbors already have their lights up! Seeing this, my parents have decided they have to start setting up their Christmas lights. So after buying a balsam fir on Sunday, we started putting up lights on Monday. Instead of putting up all the lights at one time, we're installing individual installments each day: lighted candy canes on Monday, a plastic snowman yesterday, moving reindeer today. It's like an Advent calendar, but instead of receiving candy we're installing lights! I doubt my family's display will reach Tim "the Toolman" Taylor proportions, but the number of lights so far is at least in the hundreds. When (if?) we finish, I'll try to post some pics here.

three little words

Except for the initial few days, my adjustment from living in urban Hong Kong to rural upstate New York has been un-noteworthy. Sure, mass transit here is so unpopular that Rochester actually abandoned their subway system. Breathing clean air and seeing stars at night: that's something I enjoyed getting used to again. But in the past couple months, there has been nothing so extraordinary that warranted a blog entry. Most of my audience is American, so what is there for me to discuss that would be new to you?

The answer has just three little words: lake effect snow.

Sure, most of the Northeast gets snow... in the winter! Right now, it's mid-autumn! The leaves literally just changed color; due to the 'mild' weather, this year's leaves stayed green longer than in past years. (I've seen snow in Colorado and the Adirondacks in early November, but those places saw their leaves change color weeks before we did.) I guess there's no better reminder that indeed I am not in Hong Kong -- or in Boston -- any more than seeing snow before Thanksgiving. The forecast calls for up to six inches of lake effect snow, and I did drive through more than a dusting of snow tonight.