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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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HOLIDAY DECORATIONS
An inveterate eavesdropper, I often hear tourists make observations about our island. After many years of this, I've discovered a precept as consistent as Murphy's Law. I call it the Ignorance is Bliss Principle. Those with the least information are the first to draw conclusions. The underpinning of this tenet is that most folks just don't want to be confused by the facts. Still I was surprised to hear an island visitor complain to his companion that our holiday decorations were lame. Fortunately I had the foresight to censor the committee in my head before engaging my tongue. In fact, rather than making any verbal comment, I tried to figure out where this complaint had come from. There were snowflakes on the streetlight poles. Shops were bedecked with evergreen garlands. Strings of lights were strung in trees. Windows were dressed with holiday gift items and nostalgic displays. What was this guy's problem? Then, like a snowball on the head, the answer hit me. This tourist, who had only come to the island for the day, had never seen our decorations at night. In the daylight, our silvery white snowflakes looked bland. At night their white lights made them sparkle. The colored lights in the trees and garlands were dim at best in the sunshine. After sunset, they glowed magically. Items barely noticeable behind the glare of a storefront window turned into lavish displays beneath nighttime spotlights. I understood all of this from having seen our town at night. The daytime tourists were clueless.
Then another realization presented itself. People are just like holiday decorations. They were created to make the best impression when viewed with the glow of inner light. To judge them without waiting for that inner glow to reveal itself causes me to miss their true magnificence.
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SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008 |
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