Christmas lights can be beautiful. Holiday decorations can be tasteful. And most people use reasonable restraint while trying to build a better display than their neighbors.
Other people prefer holiday explosions.
There’s a house not far from mine (which I drove by twice tonight) with a pretty small yard, maybe 10 feet by 20 feet. In this space, they have a Nativity scene, complete with manger and three- or four-foot-tall light-up representations of Joseph, Mary and Jesus, the wise men, the angel, the animals … am I missing anything?
Oh yeah, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus are also standing by. Probably others, I can’t ever get a good enough look without causing an accident. Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without light-up snowflakes and strings of lights surrounding the property.
I’m pretty sure it’s the same house that also decorates for Easter. They put out a wooden sign, cut and painted to look like a cave entrance, that says, “He is Risen,” next to human-sized cutouts of pink and brown bunnies.
It’s fine to embrace both the secular and religious traditions for the holidays. Many people have Nativity scenes beneath their Christmas trees and hunt for eggs after Easter Mass.
It just seems like a sacred vs. secular battle, out on the lawn, when life-sized characters illuminate both sides. Sometimes they are larger than life-sized, when inflatable Frosty and Santa come into play.
Though, there doesn’t have to be a religious conflict to have gone too far.
When the house is lined with icicle lights, every hedge is covered, and the entire property line is outlined in lights … it could look nice, if done with some color coordination.
Mixing white lights with single-colored strands can be pretty classy. But using multi-colored lights can start getting tacky when mixed with both white and single-color strands. And half of a tree blinks off-sync with half of the house. And you also have figurines all over the lawn.
Holiday explosions not only disturb your neighbors, think of what it will do to your electric bill!
So please use restraint when decking the halls!