So when is the legal Christmas cut off? And by that I mean, when is it the proper time to remove Christmas from your home after the holiday is a wrap? no pun intended...I'm driving home last night and I see two, count them, TWO houses on my street with full on holiday, ho ho ho...Christmas tree still up, lights on the trees outside and candles in the window. Is this legal? Isn't there some committee made up of Rotary League women, who smell like Estee Lauder and knit coasters for their antique tables that decide how long is proper for Christmas displays to be up? Today is Jan. 18th for goodness sake, and I know that, for me, Christmas 2010 is nothing but a distant memory at this point.
There are those that would argue that the Christmas displays must remain up until "Little Christmas" has passed, but a quick Internet check tells me that this too, has come and gone. Now don't get me wrong, people can do whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes. After all, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave. I even will go out on a limb and say that I kind of like driving by and looking at the beautiful lights and especially the Christmas tree, since my tree is long gone. But how long is too long?
There's the wreath rule. The wreath rule states that, "after the Christmas holiday is observed the holiday wreath hung on the door must remain until the dawn of February." I don't know if that's true, because I just made it up, but that's what I always believed. But the tree and everything else? After the second week of January, it just begins to looks stale to me and I know I don't live in the swamps of Mississippi, where the Redneck rule is to leave it up all year so that you are ready come next year. So what gives?
Is it laziness or longing-ness? Do people want to stretch out the joy of the holiday and enjoy the beauty for one more day..too long, or are they so busy/lazy that they have no time?
What do you think bloggers??
I have several houses near me that still have lights up. I've noticed that Asian people seem to leave them up longer, for some reason. There's also the pain-in-the-neck factor, if you went to the trouble of stringing lights in a big tree in your yard, or stapled those "icicle" lights all over the edges of your domicile . . . takes a lot of energy to clamber back up there to get those things down, in an icy January wind.
ReplyDeleteWe employ the common multi-step post-Christmas takedown --- get it all down in one weekend, for step one (like ripping the Band-Aid off really fast), move the many plastic storage bins down to the basement, for step two, and then put them back into storage for step three. We're stuck between two and three, presently, but should finish three by the time we need to get out the bins for Easter :-)
XO
For some reason I thought things were to be taken down right after the first day of Jan.Perhaps because my mother said so.ha.. There are a couple close to me that still have their things up.
ReplyDeleteI had a college roommate who wanted to leave Christmas decorations up all year long. But she was weird in general.
ReplyDeleteThe Christmas cut off should be Jan 2 for the heathens and for those of the religious bent should be Jan. 6th (That is the celebration of the 3 wise men visiting Jesus).
ReplyDeleteAnything other than that...in my mind is unacceptable.
Ugh. One of my pet peeves!
ReplyDeleteWe live in sunny AZ and there is no reason why lights cannot be taken down or at least NOT turned on.
Eeek. What do these people think? That electricity grows on trees?
heh heh
I say get them down ASAP after New Years Day. I enjoy the festivity of the holidays as much as the next guy, but logically I know that the "holiday season" is over as of then. I'm partial to spring and summer. I don't much care for winter, so all the light do after the first of January is remind me that we're still in the thick of winter.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely sick of seeing them. Take the shit down - the holidays are over!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for it coming down the few days after the holiday but here in Winnipeg they're up till March in some places. It's just too damn cold for people to be outside messing with lights and trees and things. Today? -33 degrees. No one wants to get frostbite for the sake of some decorations. :)
ReplyDeleteMe, I have my lights up all year in my living room. I like lights! No tree or decorations though, I'm not MAD.
I usually take down my decorations from the house right away. The tree stays up until it can be ignited by a 40 watt bulb.
ReplyDeleteI thank it's time fo' some poke chops n greens !
ReplyDeleteTree has to go as soon as it is so dry that your house will go up in flames if someone farts.
ReplyDeleteWreaths......depends on where you live. In the snow belt, sometimes you can't even get to it unless the snow at the door you never use, has melted enough.