Christmas Lights: Enjoy Them While You Can

When I was young, most Christmas lights didn't get put up much before the middle of December and Christmas trees were often erected on Christmas Eve or not more than the week before. But, of course, this was back when most trees were real and after several weeks of being in the house they were shedding needles at an alarming rate. And what artificial trees there were had limbs that looked like toilet brushes only green. Strings of lights would go out altogether if even one bulb failed and you had to keep changing bulbs until you found the culprit. Outdoor lights were bulky and often subject to this same problem.

Now we have artificial trees that often look better than the real thing and are more environmentally friendly with many having lights that are part of the tree itself and not dependent on the other lights to keep working. Also outdoor lights are smaller and their cords less brittle with a variety of clips to make hanging them easier. So now lights and trees start appearing soon after Halloween. Early though it may seen to us old timers, they do provide a cheeriness to dreary November evenings.

But things might change in the coming year with lights and trees not being hauled out until closer to Christmas again. With the imminent coming of the so called "smart" meter for electricity, rates for the 5-9 pm hours will be 9.3¢/kwh as compared to the current rate of 5.7¢/kwh or approximately a 60% increase. And on top of that will be another 8% due to the HST which is scheduled to come into effect next summer. As people face these skyrocketing electrical bills, Christmas lights could easily be a casualty. I'm sure those hypocrites like Al Gore and David Suzuki will smile to look down from their jets as they fly overhead to their waiting limousines and see cities in darkness but for the rest of us it will be another loss to the greed of the Ontario McGuinty Government.