Solar Lights

I have not put my Christmas Tree on the pier as of yet. This is not entirely my fault! Previously, I had to run an extension cord the several hundred feet down the hill and another couple of hundred feet down the pier to be able to plug in the lights. This was a lot of work and not exactly the safest of all things to do. Electricity and water do not mix! So far, things have worked out well and there have been no serious accidents involving wet cords..thank goodness! This year however, we decided to "go green"! We bought several strings of solar Christmas lights with the idea that this would be much easier and much safer! A word of note...test the lights! I am glad that I took the lights from the box and tried charging them before going through all the effort of decorating the pier tree. Three of the strings of lights did NOT work! I guess poor workmanship, faulty material or merely damage during shipment could account for the "unworking" lights but it is sort of disheartening to turn on the lights and see...NOTHING! After several trips back and forth to the store to exchange the broken lights, we now have an odd assortment of strings but at least they work! Tomorrow....the pier tree will be up and decorated! Christmas will come to the Bayou!

While I was messing with the solar lights, I started pondering. Uh oh...here we go again! No..seriously..I was thinking that I would like some sort of light posts for the yard. This is not a new desire as I have hinted the fact for several months now. The solar lights just brought it back to mind. We are far from any street lights and it gets dark down here! When I have to venture out to get an armload of firewood late at night, I can hardly find my way around. I need several lights to lead me to the woodpile and back. I usually take a flashlight but try balancing that when your arms are full of wood and opening the door..doesn't work. I have dropped the flashlight several times and occasionally a piece or two of my wood. One night a couple of months ago, after I had been hinting at the idea of a post light, Son called me outside and said to bring the camera. When I asked what he wanted, he just told me to come. Thinking that something was either very wrong or very interesting, I hurried along as best I could in the dark. When I reached him, he positioned me in a certain place and said.."I found your post light!" Huh? Now, just how do you find a post light? He pointed and simply said "Look!" From the angle he had me at, the moon was literally "sitting" on top of a dead pine tree. The tree had been "topped out" by Hurricane Katrina and was just a pole now. The large, full moon was glowing brightly as it appeared to be atop this post! Ahh! My post light! Son looked at me with a sly grin and said.." A lunar light!" Ok..well, I guess if I cannot get a solar post light in the yard, a lunar post light will have to suffice.

Back to the solar Christmas lights..I noticed that they have basically a six hour run time before they start to fade. This will be plenty of light time for the pier tree as that will put it out just about midnight. These lights will be a boon to me as there will be no more midnight runs to the yard outlet to unplug the extension cord. (Not to mention..no zaps when I am on the pier!) Now, if I could just get that lunar light to shine right down on my pier Christmas Tree and make it all glowy....hmmmm....