Sugar Coated Lighting

A dollop of Lemon icing perched at the end of a peppermint stick.

That's the image that popped into my mind when I first noticed the street lights glowing along the streets of East Sacramento, we maneuvered our truck filled with everything we owned to our new home. And I still conjure that image every time Fancy and I head out the door of our two-bedroom rental in the heart of East Sac for her late night pee.You see, I like places to inspire fantasy, even if time reveals some jagged edges and other undesirable features, as it surely will. But it's the details of the natural and architectural aesthetic beauty that provide inspiration that is lasting and can often overcome the disappointment that comes when novelty wears away. Places that are adorned with a multitude of these details are so much more exciting to me and seem to promise more.

The streetlights in our neighborhood are commonplace in older neighborhoods in cities across the country, but those of East Sac are the first I've encountered or lived near. Even in our old neighborhood in New Orleans, we didn't have lights like these. Their slender and gracefully fluted poles are coated in a toothpaste green paint that stands out tastefully against the billowing trees of the neighborhood. They are not too tall so as to feel out of reach and impersonal as so many modern residential street lights are, but just tall enough to dangle old world charm over the sidewalks, and whose light caroms off the opulent ginger bread homes and silent mansions that make up the McKinley Park neighborhood.

The light at the top is a well proportioned bulb of frosted glass, whose pointed top lends to this image of frosting, and its glow is muted and warm, a lemony yellow-orange, reminiscent of light emitted from a cozy den on a dreary evening. The light seems to greet you and wish you warm tidings as you pass. Fancy certainly approves of this quality, as she urinates on nearly every pole.

During Christmas time the poles are dressed by enthusiastic residents in ribbons and bows so that the streets appear lined in candy canes, a practice that only enhances this fantasy quality. And residents occasionally hang moss planters from ornate iron hooks, as one might notice in an English country village. I find these poles to serve as a comforting decoration that alludes to a fantasy of cozy cottage life, where all is buttoned down and well, even if this fantasy loosely covers over a reality characterized by obscene house prices, skyrocketing rents, a mostly homogeneous population, and aggressive NIMBYism.