Lighting a Candle in the Darkness

Wednesday, Aly and I put a couple of strings of Christmas lights on the cabin. We did this mostly for ourselves, particularly to surprise Michelle, who came home after sunset that evening. But we also did it in the hope that someone other than family would see it.

We love the idea that passing boats might see a little bit of Christmas on our lonely stretch of coast. Right now, ours are the only lights that might be seen near us.

Ferries and tugs are about the only traffic passing by these days, and the wind has been so severe that some of the ferries have been canceled. Nevertheless, if they pass by after dark, there’s a chance they’ll see (and feel) our Christmas cheer.

cabin Christmas lights

The cabin in Christmas lights (Photo: Mark Zeiger).

The possibility warms our hearts, particularly on this Winter Solstice night. Our little cabin is like a single candle shining in the darkness anytime we’re home after dark. Even more so this Christmas season.

Luckily, we have LED lights on the cabin and our little Christmas tree. They draw so little power that we can run them off our “weanie” inverter, a little 12-volt plug-in job that doesn’t have much capacity. When we exceed its abilities, it tries to beep a signal to warn us, but since it sounds as it’s in the act of shutting itself down, the signal becomes a pathetic, whining gasp. So far, it’s handling the load just fine.

This entry was posted in Off-the-Grid Power, Seasons & Celebrations and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *