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Some of our neighbors, as I noted above, have already trimmed their houses in lights (mostly white).  They look very festive and very tasteful.  I confess, though, to a fondness for a certain amount of kitsch at Christmas–bright, colorful lights and even inflatable yard figures (though we’ve never gotten so far as to buy such a figure).  We used to have a neighbor who trimmed every bit of his house–doors, windows, eaves–with brightly colored lights.  He had inflatable figures spotlighted on his roof and in his yard with “Merry Christmas” written across his fence in colored lights.  In script, of course.  No dull block printing for him.  His lights were so bright, you could see them half a mile away even though he lived down in a hollow.

His house was on a cul de sac, so everyone drawn to the lights had to turn around somewhere.  I imagine his neighbors got tired of the traffic.  We never tired of looking at his lights, though, and drove by at least a couple of times during the holiday season.  We called him Christmas Guy because he got into the holiday spirit so enthusiastically.

The last time we saw his lights, he was out in the yard with some other people when we made our first pass.  I rolled down my window so we could tell him how much we enjoyed his decorations, and we heard him tell his friend, “I have to work some time, you know.”  We gathered that he took time off to decorate.  And he’d have to unless he wanted to string it out (no pun intended) over several days.  No one could do all that in an evening.

Alas, but Christmas Guy moved a couple of Christmases ago.  We don’t know where he went, but it wasn’t in this area.  Otherwise, we’d see his lights about now.

Lucky for us, though, some new people moved into the neighborhood the next year, just up from our house.  While they couldn’t rival Christmas Guy in scope, they decorated their little bungalow with lights for both Christmas and Hannukah, with Stars of David in blue lights and a winged pig (for Cleveland, we’re told) in the yard, all of it presenting a cheery note as we came down our street.  But we won’t have their lights this year because they, too, have moved.

We could put up lights, of course, but decorating the tree and doing some minimal decorating in the house seem to be the most we can handle.  We have lots and lots of Christmas decorations, many of them beautiful, handmade items.  The dh’s sister made the star on top of our tree.  We have a gorgeous, cross-stitched Christmas tree skirt and a cross-stitched angel made by a Jewish friend who loves Christmas but doesn’t feel right putting up a tree.  She and her husband used to decorate with us (before they, too, moved–is this a pattern in our lives?) and also gave us some beautiful ornaments.

We switch out a big picture for the large 12 Days of Christmas cross-stitch made by my late aunt.  We have an angel on the sideboard and a Santa also made by the dh’s sister.  A nativity candle tower I bought on sale when the boy was small goes in the middle of the tablecloth.  And we have snow globes we bought at various times, the first on our honeymoon in San Francisco.  Once those things are set out, we call the decorating sufficient.  Anything else we have time to do is gravy.

What about you?  Do you like to look at Christmas lights?  Do you celebrate Christmas?  If so, do you decorate heavily, lightly, or as time permits, and do you have a favorite decoration?

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