Our new neighbours over the road have gone just that little bit further than most other households with their Christmas decorations – and bear in mind that a lot of houses here are festooned with flashing lights.
They have a decorated tree in the middle of the front garden, and under the kitchen window is some sort of installation involving an illuminated reindeer and other accessories. Maybe its a grotto. Its certainly a bit of a landmark.
Given my own opinion of Christmas I would be expected to heap scorn and ridicule on this sort of behaviour in equal measures, but they are obviously doing it for their young kids who I have to assume love it. Indulging children is something to be encouraged – even I used to dress up in a santa outfit when our lot were still in primary school.
What our neighbours have done looks like it has involved quite a lot of work, as opposed to just going out and buying a pre-fabricated Christmas. I bet the kids helped out as well, which is great. I can remember making paper chains and other Blue Peter-style decorations when I was a kid. I'm sure it didn't have the same 'ideal home' look as buying in a pile of colour co-ordinated designer decorations but its a lot more homely.
Even to an atheistic miserable old git like me the display over the road has a certain appeal. All Christmas decoration looks tacky to me, no matter how expensive or impressive, but I can just about bear the ones which are obviously child-oriented.
When adults with no children in the house swamp the place with flashing lights and tinsel I get a bit worried though. Its behaviour on a par with keeping 8 cats or having an entire room filled with royal souvenirs – including a shrine to Diana.
The bigger the mouth, the smaller the…
It makes me wonder whether your neighbours quite understand what Christmas is supposed to be all about – A Baby’s Birthday ?
Just so long as these same people don’t complain about their electricity bill.
Anyway, the true meaning of Christmas to me isn’t Jesus’ birthday (it isn’t anyway), it’s a midwinter celebration. I am one of these people who loves light nights in the summer, and this time of year – when it’s cold and there is about 8 hours of light in 24 – is a real downer. But at the Solstice, just as we turn the corner and start rowing our way back towards the Sun, we light up the night, and have a party. If Christmas didn’t exist, we’d invent it, I’m convinced of that.
It’s me again – yes, I know, three comments in two days is turning me into a bit of a stalker. But, on the question of Chrimbo lights, check out this story from my hometown – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/575685.stm – so you really have got off lightly.
When I say that the true meaning of Christmas is a week off work which only uses up 2 or 3 days of your leave allocation I am only half-joking.
I see it as a celebration to mark the end of the year or, as you say, brighten up the darkest days of they year. Before Christmas existed we did invent it – the population of Britain was celebrating at this time of year long before the event was hijacked by the religious types.
Love the Scottish story. He has raised £1000 a year for charity… I wanted abit more investigative journalism there: how much did the 8000 bulbs cost in the first place and how much does it cost to power them. A compromise suggests itself – the 50 neighbours could chip in twenty quid each if he scraps the lot. They don’t get their delicate sensibilities offended and the tone of the neighbourhood brought down, and a grand still goes to charity.
They are probably worried about the impact on house prices. And talking of which – why does every story about anything always mention the price of the house where it happens
The stuff kids make for Christmas is great – I was just a bit freaked when I visited a relative’s house the other Christmas and saw, in pride of place, the snowman their son had made out a toilet roll inner and cotton wool. It wasn’t the wonky eyes or the satanic grin that worried me, but the fact that the son in question is now 50ish and has a son in the army himself.
I’ve just checked out Riedski’s link and I’m confused. If the neighbours are concerned about safety issues at all why are the official ‘lighting up times’ all after school, mostly before dark and certainly before most children have stopped playing out. I mean, I’m not that fond of kids, but this seems a little like they care about lowering the tone more than road safety…
I do hope this relative was one of your in-laws…
Why, do you remember making a snowman out of loo-roll middles and cotton wool?