It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, wait, have I heard that opening line somewhere before?
There’s something about a sprinkling of snow that adds the final ingredient to the anticipation of the Christmas season.
I was watching the Vancouver news the other night and they were featuring some amazing light display at the Coast, and it did look great, but something very necessary was missing as the umbrella-clad revellers rushed to see the four million or so lights.
Snow, of course.
Not only does the white stuff help reflect the light and add the Hallmark quality to what the holidays should look like, but it’s also the stuff of the most famous Christmas song of all (that would be Bing Crosby’s I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas).
And at the Coast it remains mostly a dream, in fact if you watch newscasts from the Lower Mainland fairly regularly they view the smallest amount of snowfall as more like a nightmare.
But here we welcome it. Well mostly we do.
As long as it’s not too heavy and it doesn’t come all at once we’re fine. And the skiers seem happy so far so all’s good with the world.
And for those who may follow this spot in the paper I want to announce that I got my award-winning-salute-to-a-straight-line-along-the-gutter-of-the-front-of-the-house light display up nice and early this year.
Normally I’d be thinking of putting it up this weekend but it actually saw the light of day in November. I know, I know, good on me.
Yeah, except I think I was the last one in the neighbourhood to actually get their lights up and working. Heavy sigh.
It seems every year it gets a little earlier and this year I managed to catch the wave, so to speak.
However some of my neighbours are insisting on adding to their display a little each year putting a little pressure on yours truly to join the quest to out-Griswold the other guy.
So far, being cheap and lazy, I’ve managed to resist the temptation.
Besides, I always figure part of my light display’s role is to make the other guy’s look better. Your welcome. And at least I’m participating in the Christmas spirit.
Just like how I outwaited the trend a few years ago for those hanging, white stringy lights that now seem to have faded into obscurity long before I could even check into the phenomenon.
Saved a bundle there, ahem.
Speaking of saving, maybe people are going big time into lights display this year before BC Hydro jacks up our rates over the next five years.
Maybe, maybe not.
I like to think people will still want to mark the season somehow.
The only problem with getting the lights up early is I have kind of been resting on my laurels since then.
And guess what?
It’s now Dec. 15 and I should probably think about getting a tree and maybe even get some shopping done one of these days.
The kids, actually they hardly qualify for that term anymore, are pushing me to get a tree this weekend, which is kind of cute cause it shows they are still into it.
OK, OK, but hey there’s that shopping thing too you know and you can’t count on Santa to bring everything.
And maybe I should get some sandbags for the back of the truck as this snow seems to be sticking around.
And did I ever put the snow tires on or didn’t I?
Did I mention the lights are up already?
