Lights!!!

My neighbor John -- the one with all the Christmas lights -- emailed today to say he doesn't have any blue lights on his house. This is what he gets for not turning them on during the day when I was writing Sunday's column!!!

Actually, he's a nice guy who doesn't sound too upset that I misrepresented his meticulously thought out color scheme. He's even got a link to the column on his website, which you can see by CLICKING HERE.

As you can see, he did a good job, very tasteful -- especially compared to some of the over-the-top displays I remember on Long Island.

But, it's all good, isn't it? I mean, even when a house looks like a train wreck (and John's doesn't), you have to admire people for putting so much work into it all and spreading some cheer.

John's site is a part of a Christmas Light webring, so I'm guessing you could spend all day online looking at lights if you're so inclined....

Comments

[lwt]

i wouldn't mind lilving across from that. there is a house on east passaic avenue in nutley that was featured several years ago on the news because you could see his house from the parkway. people were stopping to look at it, causing massive tie-ups. the state police asked him to please turn his lights off during rush hour, but he refused. it was pretty, though, unlike a house on chestnut street that had snowmen, choirboys, trees, candles, toy soldiers, trains, at least a dozen mary/joseph/mangers [including one you would have to climb through to get to the front door] and more than 20 santas, some with reindeer and seighs, some without. it looked like a collision between bad taste and a nightmare. add insult to injury, he would pput it up right after halloween. someone asked him why and he told them he liked christmas. that house has not been decorated in years. my husband thinks he might have moved. either that or yielded to peer pressure.

[Linda]

I'd still like to know why some people have candles in all their windows on all year long.

[Ruth Ann]

Linda - Window candles make a house look warm and homey. I guess in my first life I lived in the 1800's when they used to light with candles. I like the look, no other reason.

[deb]

John is my son -- and frustrated that we don't do outside lights on our place! LOL! GREAT column, Bill -- and a wonderful excuse to wake him up early on a Sunday morning while his kids were asleep here!

[john]

yeah THANKS ma lol...just wait till the two of you are out of the house and i have a few spare hours...i got extra lights ;)

[lwt]

my husband loves the look of a lit house but physically is not able to do it. deb, do you rent john out? we like blue lights for our house.

[john]

lwt (if thats what it says...print is small)
if you mean does she rent me out as in where i live then no, i rent from someone else...if youre talking about renting me out to put up lights, ill have to say no...if i do it for money its no longer a hobby to me and i wont enjoy it...my neighbor pays a company to do it and i look at him in disgust because hes able to do it himself hes just too lazy to...in your case, hiring a company is acceptable since your hub isnt able to do it so my opinion doesnt apply to you...but im sorry, ill have to decline if youre asking to do your lights...im sorry

[lwt]

no, i meant your services as a christmas decorator. then again, thinking it over, from my house i don't see my house. i see all of my neighbors'. if you could have come to do theirs' it would have been nice. but it was wishful thinking and there is no need to apologize. as for your able-bodied neighbor, maybe he is just lacking in imagination and taste.

[Rachel from Australia]

John has done a great job on the house. I have heard a lot about it throughout the year from John's fiance Christina and the final display was just as a good as she assured me it would be! Thank goodness for the internet so I am able to see it all the way here in Australia! I am already looking forward to seeing next years. Merry Christmas!