The Official City of Kellogg Christmas Lights

Lights of this humble design pepper the telephone poles of Kellogg, Idaho. Some of the lights are burnt out. Some of the candles are unlit. They are old. I'm thinking these lights have been going up in Kellogg at Christmas time for around forty years or so.

When I return home to Kellogg for Christmas, these lights trigger my memories and these lights give me the sense of cheer and community I long for where I live now, Eugene, OR.

I know that to most of you, it might seem I'm being sarcastic because this decoration has such a Charlie Brown look about it; it's not elaborate; it's not memorable; it's sort of scrawny. But it's what says to me that my hometown is in the Christmas spirit and wants to do its part to represent the light of life coming into a dark world.

Someday, maybe soon, I'm sure a movement will gain momentum in Kellogg to replace these old decorative lights. So be it. I'll miss them, but my heart will still leap if the City of Kellogg replaces these lights.

But, should the City of Kellogg decide to replace these old lights with no lights and decide not to decorate the town, however modestly, my heart will sink.

That's a change I would not welcome.