Light Up the Winter Evenings

LIGHT UP THE WINTER EVENINGS

Even though I want that dastardly Santa Claus banned from Christmas, I do love the season and I have one really big reason for this --- the Christmas lights on people’s homes. Where I live just about half the homes (if not more) go all out to make their properties sparkle with lights. Some people even go so far as to decorate their roofs.

My village also decorates the entire main street with lights. It is all a winter wonderland.

Many of my neighbors put up their lights right after Thanksgiving and keep them burning to January 8th. That time (a month plus) is my favorite time of the year. I love walking at night, oohing and ahing at the displays. The world just seems ablaze with color and good will. Cold nights? More often than not. But I am warmed by the lights deep in my soul.

However, as soon as the lights come down real winter descends on us. Brutal, cold, snowy, icy, icky winter with early sunsets. It is generally bleak even on sunny days.

So I have decided to fix it for all us. I have figured out a way to have my winter and my lights too. Here is what I am proposing:

The day after Thanksgiving instead of a “black Friday,” we have a “light Friday” where people all over our nation (even in the warm areas) light up the outside of their homes. Screw battling the demented “black Friday” crowds looking to save a few bucks on merchandise. (Stores can figure out another way to get us to part with our money; maybe like “black December” or something.) Light up those homes the day after Thanksgiving.

Now the problem with the holiday season isn’t that Christmas comes a month after Thanksgiving; that is fine with me, but the placement of New Years is idiotic. It is one week after Christmas. That is a waste of a holiday. There is no reason why New Years can’t be February 1. What’s the big deal about moving the date? People can keep their decorative lights burning right until then.

But wait I can make it even better for us.

We start pushing Valentine’s Day on February 14 as the end of the Holiday season so that the months of November (the days or weeks after Thanksgiving), and all of December, and all of January and half of February are the “light up winter!” months. Think of over 80 nights of light! Think of the beauty of all those sparkling houses! And we do have to slant Valentines Day somewhat as a general holiday of love --- not just couples but families, pets, friends and so on.

I believe an amendment to the constitution to make New Years February 1st can be easily passed. If villages, towns, municipalities, counties, cities and states push the idea then we can accomplish it.

Now we also must give something definitive to the good patriotic citizens who make the effort to brighten our nights. Why not offer those people good tax incentives? Makes sense to me since these home owners are probably paying through the nose in taxes and they will also have to pay the electricity for the lights.

Now, some of you might say that the “season” is generally religious. So what? Even if you are an atheist don’t tell me you don’t like those lights in the bleak winter evenings. I’m figuring every religion, culture, belief system can hop aboard the “winter light express” if they want to and have particular lights of their own if they wish. We already have the menorah if you’re Jewish and I am sure Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and atheists can all work out some lighting plan to highlight their culture or belief system. Talk about diversity!

I want winter after January 1st to be a lighted winter; a winter where we look forward to a series of holidays and enjoy the brightness that only electricity can bestow.

Are you with me on this?

(My new book "Confessions of a Wayward Catholic" is now available on Amazon.com.)

While I'm also a fan of the lights of the season, part of what makes them special and cool is the short time they are around - and the effort put into what will be a short-lived display.

Make is three months long and it will get old and boring real quick.

Quote: FrankScoblete

I believe an amendment to the constitution to make New Years February 1st can be easily passed.

Easily? That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

Quote: FrankScoblete

Are you with me on this?

No.

Quote: FrankScoblete

Now the problem with the holiday season isn’t that Christmas comes a month after Thanksgiving; that is fine with me, but the placement of New Years is idiotic. It is one week after Christmas. That is a waste of a holiday. There is no reason why New Years can’t be February 1. What’s the big deal about moving the date? People can keep their decorative lights burning right until then.
...
(My new book "Confessions of a Wayward Catholic" is now available on Amazon.com.)

Wayward Catholic, indeed. Have you forgotten why New Year's is eight days after Christmas? It was Jesus' bris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Circumcision_of_Christ

I have a distaste for Christmas that mostly started about the time I finished college and I became "Rich Uncle AcesAndEigts" (substitute my real name, of course). My sisters have 4 kids between them and as soon as I took my first job I was immediately making more money than anyone in my family had ever made. Now it's not like they're expecting trust funds and cars and everything each Christmas, but shopping for 10 Christmas presents (Mom, Dad, sister 1, bro-in-law 1, sister 2, BiL 2, nieces 1-3, nephew) when you usually get about 3 or maybe 5 in return, is annoying to say the least.

I don't help myself out at all by saving all the shopping for the last minute, but man. The commercialization really gets to me. I love going home and spending time with my family, but that's about it. Presents, meh. Lost their appeal probably about the time I stopped playing with Legos. Decorations, meh. Bah. HUMBUG.

Quote: AcesAndEights

Presents, meh.

I stopped shopping years ago. I just give my
wife a gift card now, she always took back
75% of what I bought anyway. It was her
idea for a card, fine with me. I wish it was
every 5 years, once a year is too often. The
most boring over rated holiday for sure.

Quote: AcesAndEights

I have a distaste for Christmas that mostly started about the time I finished college and I became "Rich Uncle AcesAndEigts" (substitute my real name, of course). My sisters have 4 kids between them and as soon as I took my first job I was immediately making more money than anyone in my family had ever made. Now it's not like they're expecting trust funds and cars and everything each Christmas, but shopping for 10 Christmas presents (Mom, Dad, sister 1, bro-in-law 1, sister 2, BiL 2, nieces 1-3, nephew) when you usually get about 3 or maybe 5 in return, is annoying to say the least.

I don't help myself out at all by saving all the shopping for the last minute, but man. The commercialization really gets to me. I love going home and spending time with my family, but that's about it. Presents, meh. Lost their appeal probably about the time I stopped playing with Legos. Decorations, meh. Bah. HUMBUG.

Christmas is -EV for sure. I hate it!

Quote: Alan

Christmas is -EV for sure. I hate it!

-EV, I like that. It's the bother of it, what people
expect out of you. There's Xmas with this part
of the fam, then Xmas with that part. And it's
like we just did this 3 months ago. Now everybody
sits there and stares at their phones, it's very
quiet. What's the point.

See, this "one-side of the family" and the "other side of the family" visits are well taken care of for me.

We have a giant Christmas party at my house the week before Christmas and we invite everyone, the religious folks of the family (some really, really religious ones that I wrote about in my new book), the atheists of the family (of which we have quite a few); all sides of the families. No one, except the Beautiful A.P. and me, gives gifts. (I do, however, accept drawings from the little grandchildren --- and I sneak money to them for the drawings as my job is to spoil them like crazy.) Our guests can save their money because we don't really need or want anything we haven't bought just slightly after we realized we needed or wanted it.

When that party is over everyone on both sides of the family can go about whatever else they wish to do during Christmas while A.P. and I head off for a vacation to our favorite spot in the world.

As for January 1st being Christ's circumcision (ouch!) in some rites, so what? We don't have to follow the Church's dictates --- after all, I think December 25 was Mithras' birthday. I think Christ was born in the spring. (I could be wrong in this.) So we control the dates.

And we can get a Constitutional amendment passed. I mean they passed the 18th Amendment which made many people unhappy except for those stern-faced women's groups. Come on, have confidence. Take the winter back!

Quote: FrankScoblete

Our guests can save their money because we don't really need or want anything we haven't bought just slightly after we realized we needed or wanted it.

The thing is, a really good gift is something that you didn't know that you needed or wanted until you got it. These are hard to get though and it's not always possible to find something like that for everyone, which is why I hate "mandatory gift" holidays. I don't give Christmas or birthday gifts for this reason. But, if I see something for someone that I think would make them happy, I buy it for them (regardless of the time of year)

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

The thing is, a really good gift is something that you didn't know that you needed or wanted until you got it.

One of the best gifts I ever got was an electric
frying pan. Never had one and I used it so often
I had to get another one. Now I cook with mostly
electric appliances. Crockpot, electric roaster and
griddle. More efficient and you have much more
control over what you cook. Made a meatloaf in
the crockpot yesterday that's the best I've ever
had. Far better than a conventional oven.