Not so many years ago, there were few homes that didn't bother to put out at least a few Christmas lights. Not doing so identified that household as either Jehovah's Witnesses, lazy, scrooges or away for the holidays. Putting on Christmas lights was as essential for responsible home ownership as shovelling the driveway and mowing the lawn. It's what was expected.
That's not the case in 2014 in Prince George. In most local neighbourhoods outside of Van Bien's Candy Cane Lane, only one in four or one in five homes have any lights on the outside celebrating the Christmas season. A few more have the Christmas tree in the front window but that's about it. I feel I can make that estimate with a high degree of confidence, having been out across the large parts of the city on weekend nights this month for Operation Red Nose.
Yet The Citizen still received numerous calls this month from longtime readers asking for the historic Christmas lights map, showing where the best displays can be found. Sadly, there are fewer and fewer of them. Candy Cane Lane prevails, as does that great display out on Old Caribou Highway and several homes on Alward Street near the hospital, but most of the other great homes from yesteryear, like the one in South Fort George that piped its own music through a low-wattage radio signal to your vehicle while watching the synchronized light show, have gone dark.
The irony is that it becomes easier and easier, with each passing Christmas, to put on incredible displays. Thanks to improvements in technology, such as LED lights, blow-up figures, computer synchronization, combined with old school tricks like power timers and it's easy to be top dog in December.
Yet that hasn't translated into more homeowners spending a mild winter afternoon - and Lord knows we've had plenty of those heading into this Christmas - hanging up some nice Christmas lights and plugging them in each late afternoon.
There are a few culprits, none of them solely responsible, but all working in tandem to put a damper on the outdoor Christmas lights tradition.
First, there are far fewer kids. For the same reason Halloween isn't the same big deal it once was, getting motivated to put up Christmas lights is a lot easier when there are little cheerleaders willing to pull the box of lights out of the shed and untangle them. Those kids are also the ones able to guilt the grownups into doing it - "how come everybody's house but ours has lights on? Do you hate Christmas? Do you hate me?"
Fewer kids means less effort means less fun means fewer lights.
Second, there are many more old people. By old, I mean they act old and have more excuses than there are colors of Christmas lights why they can't get out there and put up some lights.
Third, the houses today are much bigger. It doesn't take more than an afternoon, even for just one adult, to deck out a 2,000-square foot house built 30 or 40 years ago with some nice Christmas lights. Today's huge houses need an army of workers and enough lights to line an airport runway to set them up in a display that doesn't look sad and boring. Factor in the time and the cost. Suddenly, a nicely decorated tree in the front window and screwing in some green and red pot lights over the garage is all Christmas is worth.
Fourth, it's bad for the environment. The extra power. The LED lights and their mercury content. All that plastic. The brand-new loaded F350 running for half-an-hour each morning to warm up makes sense but Christmas lights are destroying the environmental legacy for our children and grandchildren.
Fifth, those lights look so tacky, especially in the daytime. That attitude, however, not strings of lights and the extension cords is what's really tacky.
On the shortest days and darkest nights of the year, Christmas lights are about cheer, good will, peace, hope and keeping our inner child bright.
So here's a suggestion for that New Year's resolution next week - resolve to bundle up and get out there to put up some Christmas lights on your place next year.
It's good exercise, it's fun and it's contagious.
