Flashy Outdoor Christmas Decorations
When I moved into a new neighborhood last summer, I thought it looked like a fairly normal place to live. My neighbors all seemed nice and there wasn't anything that was overtly strange about them. The day after Thanksgiving, things changed. When I went to work that morning, everything was quiet in my neighborhood. When I returned home early in the evening, I couldn't believe what I was seeing—maybe I was on the wrong street. As I was now to learn, my neighbors try to outdo each other with their outdoor Christmas decorations every holiday season.
The house across the street from me, as well as on both sides of my house, had huge outdoor Christmas decorations all over their front lawns and homes. I'm not just talking about ordinary outdoor Christmas decorations, such as Christmas lights, that people oohh and ahh over, I'm talking about the tackiest decorations imaginable.
Most of the decorations that were planted all over the lawns were the light-up variety. Since the sun was already setting, they were all lit up in their gaudy glory. I just sat in my driveway and stared. I was absolutely shocked. Directly across from me was a giant lit Santa that must have been at least six feet tall, by far the most mortifying of all of the outdoor Christmas decorations on my block. Swaying slightly in the breeze, he appeared to be waving at me.
It was hard to believe that all of my neighbors had managed to set up all of their outdoor Christmas decorations in only a few hours. Obviously, I had not received the neighborhood decorating schedule.
In my humble opinion, outdoor Christmas decorations are supposed to be elegant and simple. They should sparkle or twinkle. I've always loved hanging lights on my front porch and around the bushes, and just maybe, a decorative white reindeer as well. There are some outdoor Christmas decorations that should just be banned. If you're wondering what I'm referring to, drive down my street. There really isn't any need for giant Santas and monstrous candy canes hanging from trees.
My husband was just as stunned as I was. That night after dinner we both had a good laugh. The next day, we decided to put our outdoor Christmas decorations up and hopefully our neighbors will recognize—and learn from—the simplicity of ours. That night, there was an annoying glow that shone in our bedroom window from the flashy outdoor Christmas decorations of our neighbors. As I was trying to fall asleep, I was hoping there would be a power outage on my street.