I love Christmas lights. In fact, I may enjoy looking at holiday light displays as much or more than I like giving and receiving gifts.

When I was very young, it seemed like only a few people decorated the outside of their homes with lights. About once a season, my family would pile in the car and take an evening drive, seeking out those houses that glowed like gems in the night and admiring the creativity and determination of those who did the work.

As I grew, so did the popularity of exterior light displays. The world transitioned from the large, colored bulbs about the size of one’s thumb to the smaller, incandescent “mini lights.” The older style lights came in packages that contained an electrical cord with sockets and a box of bulbs that had to be screwed into those sockets one at a time. One advantage to these light strings was that decorators could mix and match the colors they strung the cords with at will. Mini lights, however, were preassembled, and replacing a bulb was as simple as pulling one pit and popping another in.

More energy efficient and lightweight, mini lights come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The cords might be traditional straight lines, or they might include appendages that looked like hanging icicles. Some even come with specially shaped bulbs or on cords that form nets. The possibilities using these, or the even more modern LED lights available today, are practically endless.

As intriguing holiday lighting became more common, I found more ways to see them. When I was in junior high, I might “accidentally” be a few minutes late walking home from a friend’s house so that I could check out the lighted homes in town along the way. As a teenager, I would often persuade my friends to take walks around the village in small groups during the holiday season to look at the lights, laughing at displays that featured Snoopy or the Grinch and perhaps having a deeper appreciation for those that were simply beautiful.

Once we were able to drive, our territory widened, sometimes including a trip to Oglebay Park to visit its Festival of Lights. Although the large number of stationary and animated displays there was almost overwhelming, my favorite part of that trip was always driving through tunnels of light. That experience made me feel like I was entering another magical realm.

At home, my own family always adhered to a strictly limited color scheme. Long before I came along, my parents and older brothers decided that the Compston household would be decorated in blue and silver every Christmas. No matter how elaborate or simple the decorations are during any given year, my mother still upholds that tradition with only a few minor exceptions.

Regardless of how big or small our Christmas tree has been, it has always shimmered with calming blue lights. Sometimes we used the 4-foot artificial tree that was stored away throughout the year and placed atop a table or stand for the holiday season. Other years, we would buy a massive live tree from a local lot, but it, too, would be lighted in blue.

Supplementing the lights on the tree are always blue and silver glass balls. To those, we always add silver birds, angels and stars; a silver tree topper with angels peeking from its portals that glow blue with a lighted background; and, of course, silver icicle tinsel.

Outdoors, the decorations themselves have varied, but their color is always blue. From strings of lights tucked into pine garlands that frame the front of the house to a large, wooden snowman holding his own Christmas lighted Christmas tree, that blue glow always made our house stand out in the crowd.

Almost every year, our neighbor across the street would decorate his house on Thanksgiving Day. He used a much wider variety of color than we did, including large, red candlesticks that framed the entrance to his porch, but he was very consistent with his timing.

He probably is not aware of it, but his prompt decorating schedule served as motivation for us to break out our own decorations. We would joke around the dinner table on Thanksgiving about whether we would be able to complete our decorating before he did.

In addition to our neighbor, who probably had no idea we were in friendly competition with him, a few other local residents’ displays stand out in my memory. I truly love the decorations at the four-way stop in Bethesda, where Snoopy and his doghouse are in the spotlight. The stone home at the corner of Brown and Jefferson streets in Belmont is another standout. Those folks decorate their entire lawn, using trains, candy canes, inflatables, spotlights, trees strung with lights and more to create a massive winter wonderland.

The communities of Bridgeport, Brookside, Lansing and Wolfhurst also make quite an impression on motorists passing through on Interstate 70. The sparkling homes and lawns that seem to cling to the hills on either side of the highway make for a festive drive through the region.

I’m not sure yet what holiday display my husband and I will create this year. We haven’t settled on a color scheme, and a couple of our older pieces probably will be retired. But, whatever we come up with, I hope you enjoy our efforts as much as I delight in all of yours.

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Lights are also the centerpiece of many area Christmas parades these days. Already, the cities of St. Clairsville, Wheeling, Moundsville and Martins Ferry have hosted lighted parades. Bellaire held its lighted parade just last night.

Holiday parades give civic organizations, first responders, political candidates, schools and businesses an opportunity to interact with local residents in a different way. For example, rather than responding to someone’s home to extinguish a grease fire or handle a medical emergency, parades give fire departments a chance to show off their antique trucks, speak to neighbors and toss candy to children.

Parades also provide audience members with opportunities to visit with their neighbors and to see who is being active and involved in their communities. If you have not yet attended a holiday parade in the Ohio Valley, you still have a few chances to do so.

The following parades will occur across the region in the coming days:

5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, Barnesville;

6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, Cadiz;

2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, Bridgeport;

5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, Adena;

6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, Woodsfield; and

Noon Saturday, Dec. 12, Steubenville.