Friday, November 30, 2007

Blinded By The Light



Christmas lights make me happy. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy. They make me want to sing. There is something so captivating about a house lit up all glowing and bright on a beautiful December night. (Man, there I go all rhymie rhymie again!) My family has a tradition where, on Christmas Eve, we all get a new pair of pajamas, put them on and then drive around looking at all the beautiful Christmas lights in the area. It is so much fun to see how different the homes are decorated. Some are so beautiful I could stare for hours.



However, others miss the mark....


We discovered, after spending our first Christmas in Florida last year, that people here tend to overdo it a little when it comes to Christmas lights. Ok, they overdo it A LOT!! Most people in Florida are transplants here from somewhere further north. I decided that some people simply overcompensate for the fact that it doesn't FEEL like Christmas here because it is still so warm out.

Sing along with me...*clears throat*.."Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we've no place to go...LET IT SNOW. LET IT SNOW. LET IT SNOW!" (*bows* Thank you. Thank you very much.) In Florida, the weather outside in December is polar opposite of frightful and if we lit any sort of fire in our fireplace, we would be sweating our buns off.

In the mile that it takes me to drive to get out of my neighborhood I think I pass about 15 glowing reindeer, an 8 foot long gleaming train, 2 smiling snowmen all ablaze, a luminous mama bear with cub (both are wearing Santa hats), a flashing snowman, and about 5 swirling Christmas trees made out of tubes with lights shoved through them. Don't get me wrong. I think there are many beautiful decorations one could put in their yard. In fact, I kind of like the glowing polar bears down the street. However.......everything in moderation.

But, on the upside, I don't have to hear my children complain about being afraid of the dark when I put them to bed for the next month, because with all the Christmas lights on in the neighborhood, there is no such thing as dark.

13 comments:

girlymom said...

Doesn't it make you wonder what their electric bill is?

Great pictures, this is fun.

Family Adventure said...

I love driving around looking at Christmas lights, too. And I like the ones who just seem to have thrown lights up everywhere. They crack me up.

Heidi :)

Kellan said...

I love the lights too - and what kids doesn't, right? We have beautiful ones in our neighborhood too - we need to put ours up this weekend.

I enjoyed your song - thank you, thank you ... ACK! Cracked me up.

Have a great weekend.

Tracy B. said...

I come to your house all the time. I've never been "flashed" by a snowman!

Duck Hunter said...

When I lived in Florida, I experienced the things you describe. WAY overboard! One of the houses started doing Halloween the same way.

I really like the first picture you posted here.

Unknown said...

love the pictures...one of our things we do is drive around and enjoy the lights everyone else has put up.

the kids are annoyed though, that we don't put up more.

Leah said...

I love to see all the lights and decorations, overdone or not! How fun and magical it must be for your children to view that everytime you leave the neighborhood! Mine would FLIP!

onthegomom said...

We love to look at Christmas lights too. However, the Let it Snow hits too close to home today. Tomorrow we are expected to get 6 inches of snow AND an ice storm. YEA!!!!! ::sniffle:: I am practically salivating at the thought of being in Florida right now.

Karen said...

LOL - I loved your pictures. The first home is absolutely gorgeous. But too many people around our neck of the woods decorate like the second. Our kids love it though. It seems the tackier the better and sometimes we take the long way home looking for places to laugh at.

the dragonfly said...

I sometimes wonder if people actually *look* at the lights and things they put out at Christmastime. That second house you pictured, it's sensory overload!!

Suburban Correspondent said...

Our neighbors put a Christmas train that lights up on the side of their house. We love it.

Maria said...

We haven't gone for a ride to look at the lights for a few years, now. I'm going to make sure we do that this year!

Autumn said...

I just don't get it. People in our neighborhood put out decor like that too-like they're calling in the aliens. HELLO?!?!?!?!?! too much of a good thing!