Carrie Swartz is pretty sure her grandfather would approve of her annual Christmas light display.
As a child, she remembers being dazzled by the many lights the late Murray Morrison would string at his Burnaby home.
鈥淗e would do the stairs and every single window,鈥 Swartz recalled.
Grandfather Morrison would especially appreciate the low-drain LED lights that his granddaughter now uses, because the combination of the many incandescent Christmas lights and cooking on Christmas and Boxing day back then made power outages a regular occurrence.
鈥淗e would have loved them,鈥 Swartz laughed.
鈥淭here鈥檚 hardly any power.鈥
She estimates her entire 鈥渓et it snow鈥 display, some 20,000 lights, adds about $50 to her monthly power bill.
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Swartz also credits her grandmother, Louise, who was skilled at crafts, as an inspiration.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been crafty.鈥
For over a decade, the 91原创 resident has been staging elaborate tributes to the holiday at her 91原创 City home at 19646 49th Avenue.
鈥淟et it Snow鈥 is on every night until 11:00 pm until January 4th, with a start time around 6 p.m. that varies depending on when she gets home from her parts manager job in Surrey.
鈥淚t [the display] started out small,鈥 she remarked.
鈥淚t just sort of happened.鈥
Now, there are people who make a regular trip to her house to see the lights every Christmas.
One devoted fan comes all the way in from Richmond.
鈥淗e comes every year,鈥 said Swartz.
This year, the fan was the one who suggested she add 鈥淎mazing Grace,鈥 to the songs that are playing while the lights flash, as an appropriate choice for 2020.
One tune that is always on the playlist is the Snoopy Christmas song, with it鈥檚 chorus: 鈥淐hristmas bells those Christmas bells/Ring out from the land. Bringing peace to all the world/And good will to man. 鈥
Swartz normally begins putting her lights up after Halloween, devoting a few hours every day to the task, 鈥渁nd go gung-ho on the weekends.鈥
Swartz does 鈥95 per cent鈥 of it by herself.
鈥淚 find it really relaxing.鈥
Every year, she switches things up, retiring some decorations and introducing new elements.
This year, she added a sleigh with a horse, some glittering balls of light and a let-it-snow rollout sign.
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One quirk she has discovered about LED lights is the difficulty getting them to shine as brightly in photos as they are on her house and front yard.
鈥淭he pictures don鈥檛 do it justice,鈥 she has discovered.
So, if you want to see how good the display really looks, you are invited to drive by.
鈥淚 just want people to enjoy it,鈥 Swartz told the 91原创 Advance Times.
Once the Christmas holiday is over, some of the holiday-themed lights will come down and the music will be turned off, but many will remain up as a winter light celebration, featuring white blue and green 鈥淐anucks鈥 colours Swartz said.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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