One of my favorite times of the year has to be Christmas, but not for the reasons you may be thinking. There are the presents, getting together with family, Midnight Mass and so many other reasons - but one of my favorite is how people light up their houses in such marvelous ways. One such house had Santa with his Reindeer on the roof of their house, as well as Frosty in the front lawn. But what I was most in awe with was the alternating red and green sidewalk lights that, to my surprise, turned out to be none other than solar yard lights!

Themed Lighting

I then began to think to myself, and I recalled seeing this home during Halloween, and that the lights were orange and purple. The more I thought about it, the more I remembered seeing the lights themed to the current holiday. Red, white and blue for Forth of July. Green for St. Patricks Day and even red and pink for Valentines. I had noticed them subtly and always smiled as I walked by - but until now I had not understood how they worked.

Judy, the homeowner, saw me staring at her lights and came outside to see what I was up to. We greeted each other and I explained I had not noticed the solar panels on the lights before, and that I was sure that the lights must have cost her a small fortune, being that new technologies certainly do. Judy laughed and explained that I would be surprised at how little she paid, and yet even more surprised by how easy they were to install.

Evening Barbecues

Judy explained that she had just bought some more solar yard lights for the back yard to place around their new back porch, so that they could invite people out for cool evening barbecues, garden parties and what have you. She then invited me in, asking if I would like to help her install these. Even though she said they were easy to install, I was a bit hesitant and she noticed my pausing before answering her. She grabbed my hand and enthusiastically called out, "Come on! I promise it'll be fun. Besides, I have yet to give you a Christmas card!"

We went through the garage, picked up her packages of yard lighting kits, and we walked out onto the patio. I complimented her on the finished project, seeing that she and her husband completed it recently, and then we got to work. Boy, was Judy right - the lights were fairly easy to place into the ground, and without having to cover up any wiring like electrical yard lights, the set up was quicker than I had expected.

Quick Installation

Judy explained she had charged up the solar panels earlier, and that the flood lights we were working under were helping to charge the yard lights even more. We placed soft white bulbs into them, and Judy asked me to take a seat on the porch. Once I had taken position, Judy turned off the flood lights and the yard lights leapt into action. The mood was instantly changed to comfort and casual, and I couldn't believe I had helped to install these just minutes before!

Judy and I talked for quite a while on a myriad topics, but those solar yard lights never left my mind. They had made such an impression on me that as soon as I could I rushed out and bought my own. Now Judy and I have the finest homes on the block, thanks to some simple yard lighting.