By: Chris Fischer
Redfield could use more lights.
Sure, there are lighted decorations lining the main roads. There are light poles wrapped in green trim and red lights.
If you go through residential neighborhoods, you’ll see that city blocks average just a couple of lit-up homes. Some neighborhoods are well-lit, and some have no Christmas lights to speak of.
It seems that people are more likely to focus their decorating efforts on the insides of their homes. Many windows are lit up from within.

I, for one, would like to see more outside lights. There’s something magical about seeing them all in the darkness, especially when there’s s-n-o-w for them to reflect off of.
Projectors are again fairly popular. I myself am not a fan of blinking lights, but it seems that many people like them.
Some houses have just one spot lit up, like a short line of color. Others have inflatables in the yard. Some houses are outlined in entirety in lights.
One reason for not decorating with lights is, of course, concerns over the expense involved in using more electricity. Since the pandemic and supply chain issues made prices go up, the cost of most things has been steadily creeping ever higher. Nearly everyone feels the crunch.

According to the Consumer Price Index, “The index for electricity rose 3.4 percent over the last year.” (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm, accessed 12/21/23) This does not
 include data for December 2023, as partial months are not analyzed.
What this means to one’s household in particular can be tricky to discern. However, it is reasonable to be concerned about energy prices.
Pretty houses are still appreciated, though. It’s one way to give a smidge of cheer to the community. One needn’t go all out. Do what’s affordable for your household.
There are some aspects of this season that we can have in other seasons – like singing, or being extra kind to others. But lights? It’s a little harder to have those on our houses in summertime. Though, if we did have them, they wouldn’t need to be put back up again come December.