The question my headline asks is in regards to exterior holiday light displays.
Every year, the neighbors to our left build a panorama across their yard that includes multi-colored lights, flashing candy canes, and a large plastic nativity scene. The lights brighten our bedroom considerably, much to the delight of my children. In fact, upon noticing the lights tonight, my daughter complained that we never put any on our house or yard for Christmas.
“Daddy’s an environmental scientist,” I replied. “He’s working to save the earth for your future and the future of your children.”
She pouted and gave me her “you’re crazy and I don’t know what you’re spouting off about now” look.
Earlier in the day, our son arrived home from nursery school and asked when we were going to put the reindeer on the roof. We’ve never put reindeer on the roof, which is quite high and inaccessible, but never mind that, he thinks we need to have reindeer on the roof. He then came up with an ingenious plan involving a rope and a ladder.
In actuality, the lights, wasteful though they may be from a decomposed dinosaur point of view, don’t bother me so much. They are fun to look at. They’re celebratory and spirited. But the nativity recreations freak me out. Yes, I know Christmas is about Jesus, but I don’t want to see fake people, lit from within, hanging out in poorly fabricated stables, mooning over an under-dressed baby doll.
I don’t remember many light displays growing up in Atlanta, but there are lots here in Western North Carolina. Our local newspaper actually profiles and prints photographs of some of the more, uhhhh, resplendent holiday home decorations around the area.
So do you put on a show for your neighbors? Or do you resent the extra wattage shining into your home at night? Uplifting or over-the-top?
I always try to be tasteful (which means I have to keep a VERY close eye on Hubby and kids). When we were house-hunting last March, and I saw our current house with 5 tall wrought iron gas lights in the yard - I immediately thought, “tasteful red bow at Christmas!” (and yes, they are already on there)
If it’s more than just a wreath on the door and some subtle lights - I start to think of Chevy Chase in “Christmas Vacation” (one of the truly classic Christmas movies!)
Oh, God, I have a picture I must find and show you…I’ll comment back when I’ve located it.
Ok, it’s up.
Click the picture for a larger size, and try not to choke on your breakfast…
First we did little lights, then icicle lights, and now do the big C-9 white lights. Our new house has quite the steep roof, so I’m not sure how hubby is going to handle this year’s Christmas lights. He’s still working on the plan. But just plain white lights for us and a big wreath on the front door. It’s inside that I get carried away.
A Thousand Points of Light…we should really meet, we spend so much time on the same track. Well, I confess that somehow having a small get away in Florida made it open season on tacky lights so we have the 3-D animated polar bear in the front yard but mostly I’m with e-spouse. I like a few tasteful lights- here at home, it’s just a wreath and garland with tiny lights on the door.
We also have neighbors who go so far that they need spare generators- it’s very frightening in a Chevy Chase sort of way.
I’m against the outside lights - for the same reason your darling husband is. I’m a wreath, and maybe a basket of pinecones for the squirels kind of girl.
And I only run the tree lights at night, when we’re home, before we got to bed, if we’re in the room.
you should drive by the westville pub sometime and see if the house on mildred avenue is doing their lights this year. they actually bought the house next door to store the damn things!!!
now that’s excessive.
(my favorite light display of all time was somewhere along highway 601 between monroe and concord, way out in the boonies. someone spelled out the word “JESUS” in huge letters with christmas lights on the front lawn of a modular home without realizing that the last “S” was backwards.)
We don’t do lights. Maybe a wreath or some garland. I must say though, that I can’t help but go out to see the crazy tacky light displays some people put up.
I finally started my public blog AF. a cute 19 year old german was my first commenter. heh.
http://carpetstains.blogspot.com
thess
Party on, Crowgirl. I guess the tat is staying?
AF, this site, which got a mention in USA Today, sounds like it was made for you: Ugly Christmas Lights..
I live in an apartment. I throw up a wreathe on the door. Oh, and I have a winter scene mat I throw out in front of the door too. The end.
Ash, have you had your sticky little fingers in my bloghouse again? Or was that Eddo? Who posted as me?
uh… i was hiding some Christmas gifts. don’t look under the Snot Sofa, or go chasing any feral cats into your closets. k?
Sometimes I just don’t get you people.
You’re perfectly willing to rape nature of pine cones and pine boughs, hack down a grand tree and bring that all into your house, but you refuse to hang a few icicle lights from the eves because you’ll burn some electricity somebody might need in 2095?
You’re perfectly willing to spend hundreds and hundreds of your hard-earned dollars on useless plastic toys (what does it take for those to decompose, a nuclear explosion?) for your precious children, but a string of lighted candy canes offends you?
You’re perfectly willing to drink and eat to excess from now until Jan.2 (what about the world’s hungry?), but a row of lighted deer blinking in the yard drives you to disgust?
The fact is that we’re all wealthy Americans, globally speaking. We’ve got much more than we’ll ever need, and it shows during this season. I’m tired of everybody acting like there’s something wrong with living in a prosperous land.
So if you’re feeling some BHL guilt, here’s what you should do: turn out all your lights, go on a 40-day fast and don’t leave the house.
Otherwise, staunch that bleeding heart, swallow hard, give thanks for what you’ve got, slip on that silken sleep mask your mother-in-law just gave you to blot out that pesky wattage and shush.
Ash, that was classick! I am a sumo fan of yours now. I was already a fan, but now I am a SUMO fan, there is a difference.
I love light displays, simple to complex. Mostly because I love tradition and celebrations, and my lights are solar powered… okay, I have no lights cause I live in an apartment, but solar powered christmas lights is a good idea don’t you think?
aren’t we a little indignant Ash.
Trees happen to be a renewable resource, where coal and electric are well, not so much in the general scheme of things. Pine cones FALL off the trees and can be gathered.
There is a difference between living well, and excess. It’s one thing to buy toys on occasion, and chose to recycle and conserve what you can, then to obviously waste water and electric.
You’re making a claim that sounds as if you could add “Well if you can afford it drive and SUV and waste as much gas as you like.” It’s about using what you need and being respectful of the rest, not forcing the rest of the world to see that you can obviously pay your electric bill.
There’s nothing wrong with living in a prosperous land, there is something wrong with wasting resources and using more then your share - on a local or global level.
That’s the same reason many of us chose to go organic, or all natural, because it’s one thing to consume the needed foodstuff’s, it’s another to poison animals and nature to get bigger, blander, mealier foods.
You feel free to slip your sleep mask on, as surely the great Oil Peak won’t be an issue you have to deal with, nor will the lack of clean water or suffient electric. But some of us, we care about tomorrow as well, about our kids and our chance to make things better for them, even if it’s for a day.
If that makes us bad people, I can live with that.
actually, i’d love to get one of those huge inflatable snowmen to put on the roof, but i’m afraid that it would get in the way of our satellite and wireless broadband antennae. plus, my wife would kill me.
I’m pretty minimal with the outside christmas decorations, not necessarily out of regard for the environment but because 1. i’m cheap and 2. i could be having a drink instead of hauling up lights. I was, however, considering some outdoor shrub lights but i fear for my puppy’s life. I put my door wreath up last night and came home today to find it in the yard, in a hundred pieces. Looks like that dog had a fun day. GDD.
Walker, you, babe, have the right attitude. And you’re totally allowed to cuss on my blog.
You guys are so cute when you’re all indignant and righteous.
Kisses.
Let’s take this from another perspective. I saw a great commercial tonight. It showed two young teens obviously ending a date at the darkened front porch of the girl’s home. The dad is peeking through the window. As the teens lean toward each other for a tentative kiss, the dad hits the switch - recreating the world’s worst Christmas lights and the poor young man is so shocked he stumbles backwards and falls over a couple large, well-lit snowpeople.
I’m thinking in a couple more years I might need to rethink my lighting strategy (from tasteful to preventative).
Eddo, SUMO love to you, too, my friend.
Rio, I can help you with that, a minimal cash outlay and I can give you a system that will put a tracking spotlight on the car…
My christmas perspective is excessive. My credits: 1. Best holiday theme in our 1000 house development in Houston. 2. On the local news for exterior illumination when we lived in eastern NC. and perhaps the best: 3. Had my house described to me by someone at work who had seen this large display of lights he could see from I-240. I only run the lights for 4 hours a night from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31 and even then, nearly double my electric bill. (Sorry Autumn)
yeah, umm, if you haven’t yet seen this, you may wanna have a looksee:
http://usa.houseblinger.com/