Lights at Dawn

It is less than a week before Christmas. I checked the weather forecast for the coming days, and there is no chance of snow in our area for the next several days. No white Christmas for us this year. Instead, we will have a wet Christmas, for it looks like we will have rain.

Tomorrow, December 21, is winter solstice. Here in Iowa, the day is 6 hours and 3 minutes shorter than our longest day of summer. So winter in our place is cold and dark, especially with our short daylight. To keep the long nights brighter, we stringed some Christmas lights outside of our house. I have them programmed to turn on from dusk until dawn.

Photo below is our Christmas lights at dawn.

Our lights are facing the eastern horizon, as if they are saying: ‘we are proudly keeping our lights on until that great ball of fire, the sun, show up in the sky and snuff out our lights.’

Recently, I read one Filipina blogger wrote about the hardships she went through in her life, yet she kept her smile and she soldier on. I know there are lots of people in this world that are going through some dark and difficult times, and yet they persevere and are keeping the light of hope on. If you are one of them, keep the fire aglow through the night. You are providing an inspiration to others. You are an enlightenment to this otherwise gloomy world.

Soldier on. Morning is coming.

**********

(*dedicated to all who are laboring through the night; photo taken with an iPhone)