Outer Banks Illumination
By Kip Tabb –
Poulos house in Kill Devil Hills. The Poulos family has put on a Christmas light spectacular for the Outer Banks for at least the past 15 years.
Surrounded by the vast reaches of darkness of the ocean and sounds, the Christmas lights of the Outer Banks would seem a beacon of refuge and safety from afar.
The winter solstice is upon us now, and coming as it does at the same time as the holidays, it is a reminder of the capacity for hope and generosity that lies within all of us. That is the meaning of the lights–that both as individuals and a community we have the opportunity–the ability–to illuminate the darkness.
That luminescence is, of course, more than a symbolic gesture. It is a way of holding back the night, an aid to finding a trail between our hearth and home . . . a pathway, perhaps, to those we love and care about. And maybe when everything else is considered, the beauty of the Christmas lights is simply that there is beauty in the illumination of the night sky and we enjoy it.
This is a time of year to celebrate the joy life. Of course there are horrific things that have happened in our world, and there will be more horrific things that occur. Yet the antidote is a simple thing–it is the belief that generosity exists in all of us and the spirit of hope will illuminate the darkest night.
The pace of life has slowed down on the Outer Banks, but the holidays remind us that this is a time of regeneration and rebirth. Surrounded by the lights of Christmas, by the sense of generosity of spirit that the holidays create, there is tangible evidence that even at the shortest days of the year, spring will surely follow and after that comes summer.
That rebirth, however, is not limited to the change of the seasons. There is as well a rejuvenation of the spirit–a chance to reflect upon the past year and know those things that were good works are worth continuing . . . are worthy of the effort it takes to achieve them.
