Drabble by Kevin Fagan for December 05, 2024

Get off my lawn!

Strike two.

We had a neighbor who’d lived here for even longer than us (and it will be 43 years for us in January). He had two 200 amp power lines put in just to run an incredible display with lights, music, and moving objects of every kind that filled his front yard and patio, and spread all over and above his house; and when he moved two years ago it almost felt like Christmas had disappeared.

You mean The Drabbles never said hello before?

We had the Zampelli’s annual display. Lines of cars to go see!!

He better don a N95 mask. The idiocy of Ralph and Norm is HIGHLY contagious.

I didn’t do much this year, not feeling festive. I see few houses with any decorations. Some go all out. I also live near a city park that has 300,000 lights on various figures and scenes. Beautiful.

When I moved to Fullerton, CA most of the houses on the street wrapped their tree trunks in red ribbons. 11 years later, only two were still doing it.

That’s hilarious! But the truth is, so called ‘neighbors’ nowadays move in and move out without telling anyone around them. very sad!

We put up the wreath the other day. It will come down when we leave on the 20th. We don’t leave it up because the wind can get hellatious and bang against the metal screen door. It won’ bother the cats but we still take it down.

My girls married and moved away back in 2013, so I haven’t done the whole lights thing since then. There is a road in my town called Inman Circle. It is actually a horseshoe. There were probably 30 homes on the road and about 20-25 would put on displays. Every year the paper would list areas to visit for lights and Inman made it for the entire time (almost 20 years) that I was interested in such things.

One year I visited my mother for the holiday. We were military and moved constantly, a tradition that accelerated even more AFTER the military was no longer involved. She was living in Arizona for this. There was a couple who decorated each room in their house in a different scheme. It was amazing. They didn’t charge, but there was a bowl for donations. That was one of the coolest things I had ever seen.

Search on ‘Tincup Way Broomfield CO’. That was the most impressive display I have ever seen. The owner loved Christmas and designed the house to hold everything. It took 2 months to put everything up and 2 months to take it down. Gone for a couple of years. It is missed.

Peer pressure.

I can relate. I hate when that happens. And often it’s how I find out someone moved.

The village of Winnetka CA has Christmas displays throughout the village, even non Christian homes have displays like blue and white lights for Hannukah which starts on Christmas day this year.

I’m surprised they did not know, realtors put up their signs quickly and even bank foreclosures are on homes for sale lists everywhere.

Too late, the moments passed. Maybe next year.

There was a house about four miles from where I live that had an incredible Christmas display every year (and one for Halloween as well). I think it was on The Great Christmas Light Fight once. I don’t think the owners moved away, but they stopped doing it after 2022.