Outdoor Christmas Decorations - Advent Day #5

Did someone say Christmas Decorations? As long as I can remember, there have always been Christmas decorations outside. My grandfather lived for the holidays and I believe he was one of those who went "all out". He went far beyond expectations. He is a painter by trade and is not afraid of ladders or heights. And every year he would get up on that two story house (on a ladder) and put the lights up. He so enjoyed that. Not only the house would be decorated, but the yard, the rose arbor, the windows, whatever he could get lights on or around, he would do it. I especially remember one Christmas season, it was a Sunday, and my Aunt and her kids were up visiting with us. ( My Mom, brother and I all lived with my grandparents.) It was getting to be dusk and all of us kids were inside watching Rudolph. After my grandfather got everything decorated, we all went outside to watch them be turned on. What things we take for granted as kids. He is up in years now, and I have noticed that he doesn't quite do the "all out" decorating he once did. Once Ricky and I were married, we started our own decorating. It seemed the older we got, and the more kids we had, and the older they got, the outside decorating became so much more fun to do. When we lived in our mobile home in Whiteford (for 18 years), is when we really started doing the outside decorating. It seemed that in those days, I was really keen on candy canes, and you could see quite a few in the yard, or deck. Ricky would get on a ladder and put lights all up on the top of the trailer. Now that we live in our house (for the past 8 years), our decorating became more involved. As my grandfather, my husband is also not afraid of ladders or heights. So ever year we have had lights on the house, but also everywhere in the yard. We have accumulated alot of outside decorations. Of course some have lasted through the years, but most has not. This year we are starting to replace out old strand of lights for the new LED lights. This year we were able to get enough for the top of the house. We have slimmed our decorating down some, but we still have alot. Of course, we now do it for the grandchildren (that's what tell ourselves anyway), but I think we mostly do it for ourselves. But, our big children would not let us forget if we did not do the outside decorating too. It's one of those things we have all come to expect and to enjoy. I love riding around looking at the decorations from others. One of those places we like to go is to Herr's Chip factory in Nottingham pa. They go all out and it is drive through. All of us have piled into the van every year just to ride up there and see it, with a stop at Wawa after for hot chocolate. Another place we like is to go to 34th Street in Hamden in Baltimore. So I guess, while we can, we will doing this outdoor decorating for Christmas, although we say it is for the kids, but I know better.