Let there be lots and lots of lights!

When I was little there was a huge juniper bush in front of our house. At Christmas we'd string those big glass colored lights through it and soon the snow would melt around the bulbs and we'd get a good coating of ice that would eventually cover the bush. After a few days the lights would seem to glow from within a giant snow globe! It's a great memory.

One thing I've learned recently is that LED lights, as pretty as they are, don't put out enough heat to melt snow, so there's no likelihood of recreating my childhood Christmases, even if Oregon weather would cooperate (which it is, at least this week!).

That's OK. There are still lots of pretty lights around. But some lights are more exciting than others, and when you mix lights and electronics, I reach Geek Nirvana!



You may have seen animated light shows before, but if you haven't seen this one you're missing out. I sent this URL to my family, and my sister (being the good researcher she is) looked up their web site. Turns out this is an incredibly talented family, and you may have seen some of their work. One brother made the stained glass windows for 10 LDS temples! There are several brothers - Richard does this light show (and is a web designer), Tom creates the stained glass windows, and Treavor is a blown glass artist and Will is a photographer. Their father, Floyd, was a photographer for National Geographic. What talent!

After you watch the light show, head over to their website and read their story. In 2007 they raised over $10,000 for the Make A Wish foundation from people viewing the light show. Also, be sure to check out the stained glass studio. There are pictures from the temples (this window is from the San Antonio, Texas Temple) and even a stained glass Christmas tree!