Come on, let's not be de-lighted!

I wonder if it is just a sign of the times.  This year I have noticed that fewer – considerably fewer – houses where we live are adorned with outdoor Christmas lighting.   This is something one sees a lot in the US (and Canada too, I remember) but is much rarer in England.  Even after several years living on the west bank of the big pond, I still view decorations like that as a novelty. 

So where are they this year?  You’d have to be living in a cave not to know that we are about to enter (maybe already have) a recession, and for just about everyone except bank executives (who are using billions from the government bail-out to continue to pay themselves hundreds of millions in salaries and bonuses, and that’s just wrong!) so maybe ordinary folks, like thee and me, are deciding that they don’t want to add to their December utility bills this year.  That makes perfect sense, but it’s rather a shame.  There are just over 100 row houses, in blocks of five, in the complex where we live, and every year we could count on dozens of them brightening up the long nights with decorative displays, from the sublime (a little nativity scene by the front door) to the ridiculous (cascades of multicoloured flashing lights from roof peak to lawn on every exterior surface).   This year I have counted four houses, and those displays are somewhat muted.

We do our bit, more for form’s sake than any Christmassy fervour.  My wife, whom I have often accused of having a very benevolent attitude to our local utility company, to the extent that she loves to pay them money for services that we do not really need (like illuminating for hours rooms that are empty) though she denies it (“No, I don’t like them. I hate those bastards!”), once suggested we string lights from the edge of our roof, down our front wall.  Since I knew who would be expected to string the lights up, and since we don’t own a ladder, that idea withered on the vine, and instead we have on our upstairs porch a rotating light ball  and an artificial illuminated Xmas tree, bought in a weak moment at Lowes a few years ago, which , when you plug it in, changes colour from pale blue to grey and back to pale blue again, looking for all the world like the ghost of Christmas trees past making an appearance from beyond the veil.  At least it is distinctive. No one else around here has one of those.  Apart from anything else, it’s a very useful landmark to describe when telling pizza delivery people how to find our front door.

I don’t go a bundle on Christmas.  I tell people that Scrooge is my hero, and I certainly don’t buy into any of the religious side of it.  But…. (there had to be a but)  Christmas is a milestone on the road to the end of the year.  Decorations are part of the process of rounding out the twelfth month, and I have to admit I miss them.  Times may be hard, and may well get harder, but walking through our complex in the evenings and seeing nothing but darkened house fronts just rubs it all in.  It’s as though people are giving up without a fight.  A few lights would make all the difference.

Anyway, my dear fellow bloggers,  whether your house is dark or illuminated, whether you will celebrate lavishly or frugally,  may I take this opportunity to thank you for dropping in here from time to time over the past year, and I do hope to enjoy your company again in 2009.  I hope you’ll be making merry this week, and I wish all of you the very happiest of Christmases and a peaceful and successful New Year.
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Comments

[FickleMinded]

no more TT, but I wish you a merry christmas instead. :)

[Carol]

Hmmm....I guess I have been living in a cave. I know about the economic problems, of course. (Married to a guy who works for an investment firm - how can I NOT know?) Just hadn't tied it in with the lack of Christmas lights this year.

My street is just as lit as always. I'd love to add to ours next year, but will have to talk Mr. Wall Street into it first.

[Wylie Kinson]

Happy Christmas to you and the missus, N. Sorry to hear about the dim neighborhood. Mine is bright, as usual - though my own dh did a slap of a job this year, only stringing a few yew trees with those sad looking LED's. Next year I'll insist that he climb the bloody ladder and trim the eaves!

[Adelle Laudan]

Happy Holidays, Nicholas and family!

[Tina Marie]

Pretty bright over here in Houston as well!

Have a very merry xmas and a wonderfully happy 2009!

[julia]

We've had fewer lit-up houses here on Canada's East Coast as well, Nicholas. I agree with you - the darker the times, the more light we need. Your Ghosts of Christmas Past tree sounds very cool.

Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you!

[J]

Your tree sounds quite strange, and it would indeed be handy for delivery people. :)

I haven't notice more or fewer lights around here...seems about the same as always. The gifts were less expensive, but I don't think that's really a bad thing, even in times when things are going well. Though my daughter is enjoying her new iPod, so they weren't THAT much less expensive, to be honest.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, and that 2009 treats you well.

[Bumbles]

It is always good to have a landmark for the delivery people. Last snow bank on the left isn't always helpful. We decorated less than we wanted but only because the bastard stores sold us strands of lights that didn't work. Already planning a decor strategy for next season - the delivery guy will never miss our house.

[orneryswife]

Pretty funny about the tree. Our location is very easy to find, so we don't need to resort to landmarks, although if the people at the end of the street ever take down their cute little white picket fence we may need to reconsider!

Well, Ornery and I used to hang lights, back about 18 years ago. The truth is, our marriage is worth more than the exterior decor, so we decided to stop that nonsense and enjoy the fruit of other people's labor instead. The last year we (he) hung them, we lived in a house with a rather high peak on the front above the garage. The lights were one red and two white alternating -- the big C7 bulbs (before the advent of those dreadful icicle lights). The strings went all across the front on the eaves, then up the peak on the front, back down, around the corner to the side, and up another peak.

Ornery is not terribly fond of heights--in fact he prefers the ground best, but he has always been willing to indulge my Christmas zeal, and grumblingly would ascend to the heights to appease the child in me. He did this for a couple of years in this house, but was not very happy about it this last time, as it was extremely cold and quite windy on the appointed house decking day.

All was well the first couple of nights we lit them up. They were lovely, and distinctive. Then, some sort of gremlin got into the works, and the strand that ended just below the peak on the front shorted out. If it had been cold on the day he hung the lights, it was frigid that night when we discovered they no longer looked festive but pitiful.

The "discussion" that ensued was one of the only arguments we have ever had, so we decided to nix the outdoor lights in order to keep "peace on earth" in the season.

Now I just hang a wreath on the door outside, and place a tree within so it can be admired from the street as well as indoors.

Happy New Year!
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