Christmas Lights All Around

                One of the odd things about living in our area of California is the total lack of snow--we sometimes see a flake or two, but nothing ever stays around.  During our first year in our current house, it snowed in one of the local cities and stuck.  The morning news looked like backstage at The Muppet Show, and they preempted The Today Show to continue local coverage, which appeared to be mostly driving tips and pictures of white-carpeted backyards submitted by viewers.  As we were fresh from Ohio at that point, it was deeply amusing to us, and we were grateful we weren't expected anywhere.  I don't miss being cold, but I do miss the snow.  The evenings and early mornings are so much less bleak with a glittery blanket reflecting all the street lamps and porch lights.  The crunchy noise and feeling under your feet is hard to forget, too.

                Having grown up with snow, seeing Christmas lights on bare lawns is confusing, too, though I've gotten over that.  The warm, mild weather means that there are a lot of decorations out, and it's fun to drive around our area after dark right now.  We have a house down the street that goes all out, complete with painted wood cutouts of toys and Santa with the nice list (Conveniently, all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are all represented on said list.).  Kiddo went down the block and helped him a bit this week, and he confessed to her that he's now too old to string messages in lights on his roof.  It's a pretty wonderful display, and many houses on our block have added at least a little something to give the visitors something to admire while they double back to take one more look at the house down the street, like icicle lights at the roof line, or setting the tree up in the front picture window.

                We are notoriously overwhelmed at this time of year, so I invested in one of those laser light displays that you just poke into the ground and focus at the side of your garage.  It's really nifty, and we intend to set it up in our house at some point, just to see what the cat would do about so many laser light dots all at the same time.  Fuzzy thinks her brain would short out.  I would pay cash money to see that, so it's on.

                There's a lot of creative and wonderful displays throughout our town, and I'm planning to drive the girls around next week to look at them.  It's going to include the former prop artists who have taken a ton of corrugated plastic board and made it into a fantastic gingerbread house, and the people who attempt to recreate part of a Disneyland show with their front yard.  It will also include the house a few blocks away from us that has no rhyme or reason to its display.  Clearly, they go out each year and buy a couple characters they enjoy and add them to the group.  It appears they edited a dozen or so out this year, unless I drove by during their artistic process and have not seen the full effect.  Last year, the full effect was akin to a folk music festival attended by your favorite characters from Disney, the Bible, and traditional folklore.  It was actually oddly fun, and I envy their storage space. 

                It looks like we're voluntarily shutting a bunch of stuff down before our hospitals get overwhelmed.  It's not a popular decision in our county, and a local clinic got hit with a ton of graffiti last night.  I have the feeling that no matter what happens in the next few weeks, both sides will blame each other and congratulate themselves.  For me and my house, we are doing our best to stay out of everyone else's way, ordering curbside pickup when possible and enjoying the fun and entertainment our home offers.  We will do our best to not add to the crowds, so those who have no choice have fewer potential spreaders to face.  It's what I can come up with to do for right now. 

                Kiddo is being a trooper about all of this, and we're trying to make it a warm, relaxing season, since an action-packed, exciting season is not available.  We'll watch the movies, play the games, work the puzzles, decorate the house a little too much, look at lights, and bake.  With a little bit of luck, we'll be back to the shows and fairs and malls next year, and this year will be a story she tells to her disbelieving children and grandchildren.  We are living history, we remind her, and we will have so many stories to tell once we're done creating them.  Until then, let's take care of each other.