Did anyone else spend the day stringing up lights and putting out other holiday decorations? Some of my neighbors go to elaborate lengths, but I try to keep it simple. But even "simple" is a fair amount of work. I normally don't like to put them out this early, but with all of this pandemic hysteria this year, a little early celebratory spirit seemed to be in order.
Anyone else put(ting) out lights and yard displays? If so, how elaborate are you getting?
Exactly what we did today. I worked mostly outside while my wife and one of my granddaughters worked inside. Inside decorations include 93 (yes, that's 93!) nativities from many countries and time periods, a Christmas village, an advent wreath and some electric window candles. Outside, we have ringed our recently-constructed porch with lights, placed a pair of short lighted trees at the base of the front steps, and placed two laser star projectors on the lawn. Tuesday or Wednesday, our annual real Christmas tree will arrive via UPS and we will mount it and decorate it the next day.
This will be the first time in years that we haven't travelled south, so the process of decorating the house has taken on increased significance.
I'm single so I just do some very basic decorating. Simple tree with a couple strands of lights and some keepsake ornaments and 2 sentimental pieces.
The first is a Nativity Set that my paternal grandmother brought with her when she and her parents left Germany in 1941 that always goes on my mantle each year. My greatgrandparents told each of their kids that they were each only allowed to bring 1 bag of clothes and 1 other item and this is the item my grandmother brought with her.
The other is a very simple silhouette of santa's sleigh and reindeer that was one of the first woodworking projects that I remember building and painting with my father when I was around 10 years old that goes between the two maple trees in the front yard.
When I lived in a subdivision I used to do a few yard decorations and lights on the outside of the house just because anyone who didn't had to deal with griping from the neighbors about how "you aren't part of the community" if you didn't participate. Now that I live in the country I don't have to put up with the HOA bullshit anymore.
Thank you Rucky for putting up my Xmas lights! I will give you that Blow Job I promised 😉
I live in a senior citizen sub division. No kids in the neighborhood. Very few outside decorations going up. In neighboring areas outside lights, etc started coming up before Thanksgiving. Due to COVID people have more time to spend on decorating.
As for myself. I don't put up any decorations. Nobody would see it except on 1 or 2 days. So why bother. Isolation sucks.
I did the indoor and outdoor decorating yesterday. It was a nice day - with temperatures in the 50’s - so it was nice being outdoors.
I think folks will put up some more displays this year - to hopefully lift the spirits.
I have a Meyer lemon tree in a giant pot on my front porch. It's more cold hardy than a regular lemon, good down to 25-26* if it doesn't get that cold too suddenly. But my local in Oregon sometimes gets colder that that. So I put a short string of old fashioned C7 incandescent bulbs on it for a modest amount of heat.
And then a few strings of regular colored LEDs across the front of the porch. It's not an elaborate display, but it's petty in the fog/rain, and we like coming home to it.
my 'locale' in Oregon
does anybody live in neighborhoods where there are at least two households on the same block that are in competition with each other for who will have the best xmas display? this happens every year out in some areas of brooklyn, ny.
for years people would just set up the front of the house. then gradually over time it became some sort of competition among neighbors. now in some cases it's so competitive that people hire companies to decorate their houses. some the the displays i do admit are nothing short of amazing to look at.
There were two families in Pittsburgh when we lived there that lived across from each other and competed every year. I think that Duquesne Light counted on their consumption to meet their annual budget, lol.
We were at a party one night and we're giving another couple a ride home to pick up their spare keys (primary pair wasn't lost, just visible in their locked vehicle, lol). We were dropping my wife at home first to let the sitter go home, and the couple were waxing ecstatic about their neighbor's display. We mentioned that our neighbors had a display that would blow their minds. "No way," she said. A few minutes later, we turned the corner that brought the two houses into view. "Ok. You win," was her quiet concession.🤣
Every year less and less people decorate. They just don’t feel like dealing with hassle of putting it up. And if nobody else does it anyway, I think a lot people are just saying fuck it.
i leave a string of led christmas lights along my front porch (40 feet long) up and lit all year long.
Christmas yes, generic "holiday" no.
@jascoi - A lot of rural Nevada bordellos do that too.
I did a bit this year. Usually I go help my parents do it at their house, and skip mine. I finally convinced my parents to move into a condo so I could stop worrying about the maintenance on their house, part of the agreement was that I'd decorate my place instead. A couple weeks ago I did all the preparatory electrical work, added three new circuits in the panel, ran power out to areas in the front & back yard and some roofline outlets as well.
My neighbors are thrilled. I was one of only a few who didn't decorate.
It's a family tradition that we get the tree out of the attic on the evening of Thanksgiving. When my kids were little, we would go to the Christmas Tree Farm and cut down a tree the day after Thanksgiving. But we went with a fake tree with lights in it about 15 years ago. They are just easier in so many ways. We do not put much outside though. You have to put out a lot for it to even get noticed. And that is too much work.