I've been away from ActiveRain but I wanted to stop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and offer a short story to help get you in the Christmas mood.
Bubbling Over With Love
Kacey and James decided to take up the challenge of decorating their first Christmas tree since their parents retired to Florida, leaving them to fend for themselves.
As James maneuvered the undecorated Noble Fir into the open space in front of the picture window, he waited for Kacey to bring in the decorations from the garage.
Minutes later, she came in her hands filled with a bundle of green wires dotted with oddly shaped, colorful glass beads.
“Look what I found on the top shelf in the garage”, Kacey announced. “These are the original bubble lights that grandpa used on his tree in the 1950s.”
“Yeah, the ones he nearly burned the house down with,” James replied.
“I think we should use them this year,” she said.
A cautious James wasn’t sold on the idea. “I don’t know, how do we know they’re any good?
“What could be wrong with them? Let’s plug them in and let’s see what happens.”
James took the tangled strings from her hands and examined them for damage.
“A couple of these tubes are cracked, and there’s no liquid in two of them.”
Unsure about their viability, she asked, “What kind of liquid is in these things?
“I don’t know. Let me do a little research,” he said.
Hopping on the internet, James did a broad search for the term “bubble lights”. As expected, a dozen or more advertisements from every department and hardware store in the area, as well as several online stores, popped up on the screen. Each one showed modern bubble lights, “On Sale Now!”.
He looked at the modern bubble lights, then glanced at Grandpa’s old lights. The new ones were nowhere near as nice as Grandpa’s old-fashioned lights. Grandpa’s lights were more colorful, more ornate, longer, fatter, and just looked more beautiful.
“Wait, I’m gonna change my search,” he said. Altering his search to say, “the history of bubble lights”, the results yielded an entirely new list of articles. Opening one that seemed the most comprehensive, he read the description.
“Bubble Lights were first patented in 1944 and came into widespread use in 1946. The early model bulbs used a sealed glass tube filled with methylene chloride, a toxic carcinogen. The tube is then affixed to a decorative glass base that houses an incandescent bulb. The heat from the incandescent bulb caused the liquid, which has a low boiling point, to bubble, creating a unique and eye-catching display.”
But then, the article continued,
“Caution should be used due to the poisonous nature of the liquid and the potential for fire hazard.”
After reading the caution label, James said, “I’m not sure we should try these things, they might be unsafe.”
“Come on,” Kacey dared him, “You only live once. It will be cool to use Grandpa’s lights.”
By now, Kacey had untangled the strings and was busily replacing the broken bulbs in the first string with working ones from a second string. She continued pirating bulbs from a third string until she had made two complete, unbroken strings out of the three she started with.
“Cool,” she said. “I got two full strings. Let’s plug them in and see what happens.”
“Wait,” James said. “Let me go get the fire extinguisher.”
Heading to the garage, he searched around on a shelf until he found what he needed. A minute later, he returned with a large CO2 extinguisher.
“Okay, try it,” he said.
Kacey plugged in the two strings, and they lit like stars in the sky. But nothing remarkable happened. No bubbles.
They looked at each other, trying to understand what was happening.
After a minute, James said, “They don’t work. Toss them out.”
Then, just as Kacey reached for the plug, one of the tubes began bubbling. Then another and another. They watched until, one by one, every tube was bubbling away.
“They’re working,” she exclaimed. “They just needed to heat up.”
“Okay, let’s put them on the tree,” James said.
Together, they strung the lights on the tree, spreading them across the branches, so each section had at least one bubbling light.
After hanging the ornaments and stringing the tinsel, they stood back and stared at the festive tree with pride.
High-fiving Kacey, he declared, “We did it!”
“Come on,” said Kacey. “Let’s make some eggnog and celebrate.”
With the tree lights bubbling away, they went into the kitchen. Kacey warmed a quart of milk and whipped up a mixture of eggs and heavy cream, which she blended with some brown sugar to create a smooth eggnog. Pouring it into a pitcher, she watched as James measured generous shots of Brandy that he poured into two glasses. Stirring in the mixture, she sprinkled a little nutmeg on the creamy blend.
In minutes, they were toasting to their delightful accomplishment and their first Christmas tree.
As they sat back sipping their homemade punch, Kacey asked. “Do you smell something burning?”
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