The lights shine more brightly tonight. The music sounds more beautiful. Everyone seems happier, friendlier, kinder. This is the most wonderful night of the year, filled with magic and promise and anticipation. For on this night -- however fleeting or untrue -- there really does seem to be peace on Earth. Little children will gaze into the dark sky and wonder how Santa delivers all those toys in just one night, especially if there is no snow and they have no fireplace chimney.  Moms and dads may have a glass of wine after they've tucked in their babies and congratulate each other for somehow …

The home of Jane Davies and Joe Dronetti at 5th and Seem streets in Emmaus has been an annual highlight for many people whose Christmas traditions include piling into the car and driving around to look at all the lights.  About the only light in these photos that they did not put there is the full moon rising over their house. They have lights on hedges, in trees, in windows, along roof lines, on a small storage building in the backyard and even IN the backyard -- even though most people can't see them. "At midnight, everything shuts off," says Joe. "Everything's on timers." A musical tree …

So you're heading out of downtown Vera Cruz on Main Road East and you go over the big hump where the railroad tracks cross the road and suddenly…….WOW! The night is illuminated by a wild swirl of colors and styles all wonderfully jumbled together.  I know I really like a decorated house when I can't stop taking photographs of it, partly because none of them seem to really do it justice. So go see this place for yourselves! There are strings of blue, green, red, gold, even pink lights. Some burn steady, others twinkle. I even spotted  some of my personal favorites, those big old energy-sucking…

When asked why she puts up so many decorations, Debra Beers of Emmaus replies: "I love Christmas. I love the lights and the decorations." She and her husband James live at 734 Greenleaf St., just off Macungie Avenue near Emmaus High School. In fact, you can see the glow of their Christmas lights from Macungie Avenue. "We've been doing it every  years since we were married and we're married 31 years,"  said Debra. "We just add more and more to it. Now we have grandchildren and they enjoy it. It's just a family tradition." If you take the time to pause in front of the house, rather than just …

It's not just sheer volume of lights that makes a decorated home look special at Christmas. Take this house at 1050 Pennsylvania Ave., for example. It's certainly not overdone. Yet there is something very appealing about its use of red and green lights and illuminated bows. Look more closely and you'll see mini-snowmen, candy canes and white lights above the door, not to mention red and green porch lights. This is the home of Gary and Ann Brimble.  Hard to imagine, but he said it was a triple-wide trailer when he bought it way back in 1969. Gary said he has been decorating the house at …

Through the holidays, Emmaus Patch will share with you some of the homes and businesses in Emmaus and Upper Milford that literally glow with Christmas magic. We begin with this traffic stopper along busy Harrison Street in Emmaus. It's the home of Chris and Suzanne DeFrain at 181 Harrison.  "Make sure you mention my wife, because she's the one who did all this," said Chris when he answered the door. Suzanne said she set up the whole display  in about three hours, with the help of her daughter and her nieces. "My friends say you're eating up all the electricity," she said, adding all the …