Roads to Joy

The first Sunday in December is often, but not always, also the first Sunday in Advent, the start of the Christmas season. But I believe that December’s first Sunday is always the traditional ‘lights-up’ event here in New Galloway, which we shall experience this year for the first time.

Villagers apparently gather at the Golf Clubhouse, two doors on beyond us, for a warming cup of hot chocolate, before the piper blows up his bag and all manner of banshees are let loose. At some safe distance, protecting our ears then, everyone in the assemblage is expected to follow the bagpipes on down the High Street to admire the seasonal lights all lit up at once for the first time.

It took me a few days to get all our new festive lights together and strung where we thought they would be most effective, for a bright display when the paraders make their way past the house. First I had to affix stainless steel hooks above the ground floor windows so that I could later festoon strands of fairy LED lights. The first strand distribution on the double window gave me some pause, but after another several days of reflection, I realised that I could do a better, more convenient job on the big bay window, even without the new hooks I’d ordered for the bottom string.

Also, I had to figure out where to configure the power leads, and I needed to purchase a waterproof box to accommodate the light string at the far front of the garden along the wall. But it all came together this past Monday, and after a shot of the house in bright sunshine, I was able to sneak another, under a full moon, of the dazzle.

After 31 years up on the high fellside of Sparty Lea, where we had managed, finally, a Christmas tree light display outside my beloved Elf Hole pub, but where any such display was usually lost in the mist, so far away from the road it was . . . anyway, after our long life there, it’s something of a shock to be enjoying the fellowship of community, and to live in a vibrant village where we can share in the excitement of the season.

And in mulled wine and mince pies at the end of the parade, down at the Arts Centre where the local singers will lead the crowd in carols. It promises to be a delightful evening, which we expect to experience in the company of our dear friends, our erstwhile next-door neighbours in Sparty, come over for a visit.

At the outset then, from my illuminated little writing garret on the second floor, surrounded by bookshelves, I’m wishing the very best of the festive season to every reader of this joy-seeking blog!