2010 Bubble Lights

Earlier I blogged about the year my gramma had Nova bubble lights on her Christmas tree and the joy they brought to me as a child.  Imagine my surprise when my friend, Jean, brought a package of bubble lights to work the following week.  We talked about childhood Christmas memories and she invited me to choose one the bubble lights for my 2010 Christmas.  I was amazed!  She said they are readily available and found hers at her neighborhood hardware store.

The next day I headed to my hardware store and learned they had sold out.  The salesperson called their sister store a little further down the avenue who had two packages and assured they would be put aside with my name on them.  When I arrived there "my bubble lights" were nowhere to be found.  Three people cheerfully and diligently looked to no avail.  One assured me that when they found them, he would personally drive them to my home.  I assured him that would not be necessary, I would be more than happy to return for them and gave him my cell phone number.

In the heart of our 17 1/2 inch blizzard last Saturday the call came assuring me that they found one package.  I thanked the caller joyfully and assured him that I'd be there as soon as it was safe to do so.  That was Saturday.  It was an evening mid-week when I ventured further than work and drove through the beautiful decadent snow covering pines and shrubs with Christmas lights glowing from under blankets of snow to the store.  Driving the streets required caution with huge snow banks creating visual barriers at every corner. And, the trip was more than worth every slow minute it took to get there!

I arrived at the hardware store in my little red "Lola Corolla" and played dodge-em with bobcats and dump trucks clearing the parking lot.  The moment a full truck pulled away yet another pulled in so its place.  I pulled into one of the few cleared spots and quick as a wink, I had the package of bubble lights with a note written by a black felt-tipped pen with my name and phone number taped to it was in my hot and happy hands! 

My home is almost decorated for Christmas 2010.  The first thing on my agenda this year was to put the bubble lights in a tri-candle holder in my den window - the room where I spend the most time - so I can savor them throughout the season.  They will remain lighted around the clock through the remaining days of Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas.   

I no longer buy a Christmas tree choosing instead to open the antique family trunk that I have been assured my ancestors brought to the United States when they migrated from Scandinavia in the late 1800's; next I line the trunk with an old sheet to protect the century old patchwork quilt my Great-Gramma Mary made (d. 1913) and drape it carefully over the rough metal edges of the trunk ; and then one by one I add Christmas stockings for my family including pets my children loved when they were growing up and last but not least the Santa hats.  Wrapped gifts will be added right through Christmas day.  During the Twelve Days of Christmas the gifts I receive will remain in the trunk - reminders of the greatest gifts of all, family and friends who generously fill life with love, hope, joy and a peaceful heart made possible by the promise of Christmas given long ago - living abundantly in 2010.