christmas lights originally uploaded by George Deputee
Last week’s poll asked how good your childhood memory is. While The Wife’s memory is quite good, mine is terrible. I simply don’t remember much about being a child and wonder how much of what I do remember is from pictures or later conversations with family. I’m secretly convinced this is how The Wife remembers things, considering she frequently can’t remember that I asked her to do some chore around the house, but shhh, don’t tell her I said that.
This week’s poll comes after I was out in the driveway last night watching the dog do his thing in the yard and noticed that we were the only house on the block with lights in the yard. While this is the first year in many that we’ve had lights in the yard, probably because there wasn’t snow everywhere already, I was surprised at just how few houses in our neighborhood had taken the time to do anything.
We get a lot of traffic to the Minneapolis and St. Paul Metro Area Holiday Lights Map page each year and this year is no exception. While I have deleted everything prior to 2011 this year, people are already adding new ones to the list so it’s pretty clear that people do have lights in their yards but is it less than it used to be?
Do you put lights in your yard? Did you in the past and you don’t now? If so, why? Have you noticed a drop in the number of houses decorating for the holidays? Why do you think that is? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and vote on the sidebar and then comment on below. After you do both of those things feel free to check out our expired polls in the archive or read through the previous posts about polls here.
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December 2nd, 2012 at 9:29 am
I don’t plan on putting any lights out this year since we’ve moved to a new house, and my townhouse light display was pathetic. I’m waiting for the post-Christmas clearance to grab what I want next year.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:45 am
I’ve noticed quite a few attempts at lights this year. Quite a few with some of the generic air blow up Santa’s and Reindeer’s . Then the more intricate stuff as well. It feels like more lights out there. I think it may be in my area, because I saw some folks out there in the middle of November putting up lights which appeared to motivate others to do the same the next weekend. I’ve seen folks putting up lights outside in my area every weekend since the middle of November. I think the reasonable temps and lack of snow motivated a few that usually don’t.
We’re hosting Christmas for my wife’s family of 5 sisters and their families. So I’ll be putting up some lights, but I refuse to put up lights before Thanksgiving, and I refuse to turn them on before December 1st. In addition, the lights go off December 31st and come down as soon as it is safe or possible to pull them off.
I was busy last weekend and I should be putting them up this weekend but I’m sitting home a little sick, so they may not get up until next weekend. I may give it a shot yet this afternoon.
My best year was in 2010 when I went all out on the house and fabricated a animated Santa and Reindeer’s flying. I built a frame out of 2×4′s to take a display that normally is on the ground, and rig it up so I could bolt it to the space above my garage door. I painted the wood with flocking paint like for a tree, and once the snow fell, it looked pretty cool.. It was heavy. It lasted about 3 years then the metal moving parts started breaking down.
p.s. Not a fan of the blue led lights that end up looking purple/violet. I think they might be a good secondary light, as a background, but not as primary.
December 2nd, 2012 at 11:47 am
I think in the city there are less lights. I wish I could drive down the River Road or the Parkway or one of those types of streets and see lights on almost every single house. It would be very cool.
I hear the suburbs are still going strong with light displays. I was also told that the small town my friend lives in also has equal amounts of light displays as years past, including in the country where he lives.
I love listening to Christmas music and driving around looking at lights. Looks like this year I’ll head to the suburbs to try and find good lights. Luckily the Christmas music isn’t hard to find.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Light on every year here. More lights on our street than prior years. I like light displays and I like them into Jan and Feb. it’s too dark here during those months, lights help.
December 2nd, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Spent a good part of the day putting up lights. The ground was so soft I even put up some Santa Path lights, and a big blow up Santa that I normally don’t mess with because the ground is already frozen. Not happy with the porch pillars, so those will get reworked. Drove around earlier, and I wasn’t the only one doing lights. Saw some folks adding onto what they already had. This moderate temp is really getting folks to go all out I think.
December 2nd, 2012 at 8:02 pm
I remember Christmas before electricity. We used candles on the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. This was done with much concern for safety! Yes, I was born a long time ago and electricity came to the poor families last.
December 2nd, 2012 at 10:15 pm
our house is the empty dark space in the smile of our Christmas lights on our court. Matter of fact, our whole street. It says to the world “Heebs”.
December 3rd, 2012 at 9:34 am
We don’t do the lights, mainly because we don’t really have the right size/shape of trees/shrubs to make something that looks decent.
As for my opinion on the lights, 99.5% of them look like the homeowner just phoned in their effort putting them up. My favorites are the ones that have 200 year-old oaks and the person puts up three strands of lights pretty much in a straight line along the lowest canopy of branches (with one strand blinking for style points). I can just see the guy out there beer in one hand, tossing them up there with the other, stepping back, shrugging, and saying, “eh” before ambling back inside to nap in the Barcalounger.
Really, the only Christmas lights I enjoy at all are Bob and Julie Little’s. They’re the couple that live at the NW end of the Cedar Avenue bridge. No matter who you are/where you are, your lights suck compared to these:
December 3rd, 2012 at 9:35 am
Another look:
December 3rd, 2012 at 9:41 am
It also helps that they have prime real estate to display something like that.
December 3rd, 2012 at 10:06 am
Agreed. That’s the best display around, hands down. I think I read it costs them upwards of 10K each year.
I always have a good laugh at the lights that are shaped exactly like the house. Nothing says “Merry Christmas” better than a house shape.
December 3rd, 2012 at 2:23 pm
I don’t put lights on trees. I only did it once after my wife picked at me for days that it would look cool. I knew that without a lift, it would look terrible. And it did. If we had some snow, a simple color wheel would make the side of a house or some pine trees look pretty cool.
December 3rd, 2012 at 6:47 pm
I’ll admit, I enjoy being the first to have his lights hung on our trees.
December 3rd, 2012 at 7:56 pm
That tree by Cedar Ave is AWESOME. I’m a huge technology fan & love the houses like AndersenLights @ 7877 131st Street West in Apple Valley. I’ve even thought of doing something like that except for two reasons 1. Pain in the butt factor, of setting up/tearing down & programming the entire thing.. 2. The additional traffic & annoying the hell out of the neighbors. – Ok that might be three or four, but annoying the neighbors is an added bonus. HOWEVER, the solitary lit tree under a moon lit sky is a much more eloquent statement about peace, love, joy & the meaning of the holidays.
December 4th, 2012 at 8:41 am
Last year we heard about a house in Farmington that had trains setup in their driveway. Lots of lights and really gaudy but the kids loved it. Not sure if they did it again this year but if you want to check it out, go East on 182nd St at the light by Kwik Trip off of Pilot Knob. We put up lights every year along with several neighbors but nothing like what I remember growing up.
December 9th, 2012 at 7:02 am
[...] week’s poll asked if you had lights in your yard. Over the last few years it seems less and less people are putting up lights for whatever reason. I [...]