Tag Archives: Christmas lights

My own inability to comprehend palm trees and Christmas decorations in one place

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Several times in my life I have been in warm weather locales before and after Christmas. As is true in many places in the United States, this time of year involves Christmas decorations: lights, Christmas trees, garlands, and more. I have difficulty comprehending this.

When I think of Christmas, I think of cold weather. Snow at times. Warm jackets. Hats and gloves. This is the context in which I usually see all the activities of Christmas. Christmas trees and lights go up after the temperatures have dropped and winter is near or has just begun. I grew up in and have spent most of my life in the Chicago area where this is the norm.

We all have mental grids through which information we take in passes through. We have models of how the world works. Our experiences and understandings are influenced by our settings. What we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste around us helps inform us of the world.

When we confronted with something different compared to our understanding, it can cause us to pause. How does that work? It is possible to have Christmas and 80 degree weather? People can walk outside at Christmas in shorts and short sleeve shirts? People can go to the beach on Christmas?

If I lived in such a location, I suppose I would get used to this. It would be the way it is. Then traveling to cold and snow during Christmas would seem out of the ordinary. How do those people survive frigid air each holiday season?

In the meantime, any journey I take to warmer weather around Christmas will continue to confound me. I can enjoy it while there but it does not feel like the full holiday experience. I know Christmas in one particular setting and would need a lot more time elsewhere to alter my model of what Christmas can be.

When Christmas lights and decorations violate the moral minimalism of the suburbs

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I’ve seen lots of stories this year about Christmas lights and decorations on people’s houses. The biggest displays. The ugliest displays. Those that synced up their decorations to a hot song. The traffic generated, both on the street and online.

Such stories tend to contain some reaction from neighbors. Most seem either slightly amused with their excessively festive neighbors (“if they want to pay that kind of electric bill, that’s their choice”) or resigned to their fate. But, the variety of reactions illustrate one of the key pieces that holds suburbia together: the moral minimalism where residents tend to leave each other alone. In other words, suburbanites get along by not rocking the boat too much and not adversely affecting each other through their actions.

Christmas lights and decorations can cross these lines. They pit two opposing trends against each other: the moral minimalism of suburbs versus the excessive consumption and cheer of Christmas time in America. This is the one time of year that people can enhance their bland exteriors – often regulated by homeowner’s associations – and truly show their individuality. Large SUVs and garish homes illustrate bad or excessive taste at all times but Christmas means you can buy all sorts of things. It’s Christmas, after all. Yet, such displays threaten to decrease the quality of life of others and even lower property values (this is what some neighbors claim). What if your good cheer irritates your neighbors?

Hence, most people settle for limited decorations. This might be due to their own muted cheer or good taste but it also depends on the social control of the neighbors. Too much means that we may have violated the suburban trust. Such situations can get ugly. Best to display our Christmas cheer in ways that keep the suburban neighbors happy or at least indifferent.