When it comes to energy conservation, my dad was way ahead of his time. He was one of those dads who emphasized the importance of turning down the heat, and turning off the lights when you leave the room. We didn’t have outdoor Christmas lights until we were at least into double digit ages, and they were on a timer so as not to be too wasteful.
I’m sure that’s part of why I was of two minds to see Christmas lights on during my morning run. My first thought, “did they stay on all night?” was quickly overridden by a nearly simultaneous “oooh, preeeetty!” I guess it isn’t such a big deal now that there are LED Christmas lights, so maybe I shouldn’t secretly feel guilty for enjoying them!
I see the lights when I am driving home in the evening and everything, but in the car, they go by too quickly. Walking is great, but I find I get cold.
When I am running, however, it is a whole different story. I am on that plane of existence where each breath freezes in the air and the crispness paints my cheeks pink, but can’t chill me. I can bask in the cheer of lights, the glow bouncing off the snow, a series of peaceful footsteps strung together into a slightly surreal and wholly beautiful infinity. A perfect break amidst the frantic scramble of this time of year.
So to the people who leave their lights on, or turn them back on in the morning – thanks! I am really enjoying them! In fact, it’s inspired me to consider an evening run in the next little while!
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I’d be really, really surprised if people were turning their lights back on in the morning. It seems that they are more likely to be left on all night. In that case, it’s really wasteful. No one sees them, realistically, from 10pm-6am. And beyond 7am, when it gets light out, the effect isn’t the same.
If you figure that most people turn their lights on when it gets dark (so, let’s say 5pm, for the sake of argument) and then leave them on all night instead of turning them off at 10pm when they go to bed, that’s an incredible waste of energy! 5pm-10pm is 5 hours. 5pm until 7am is 14 hours! That’s almost triple and 9 hours more of running them when very few people see them anyway!
I love lights and all, but in a time when we are supposed to be conserving energy, investing in a timer or throwing on your jacket to go turn them off is a small effort to make. Not only is it conserving energy, but it could save you from an unwelcome hydro bill when all of the other Christmas bills start rolling in.
I totally agree about loving the christmas lights when running! In the past I’ve planned routes on streets whre the ‘good lights’ are lol!
love your blog 🙂
C
Adam, you’re right, I know what you mean. The story I tell myself about this particular street is that there seems to be a lot of “activity” at that hour, so I wonder if there’s a few people on shift work all on the same street, and maybe those houses put their lights on timer to come on in time for them to come home from work. It’s a long shot, I know 🙂
Claire, I do the same! I still have yet to head out in the evening to see them, but I know where I’m going when I do! Thanks for the compliment 🙂