JuliaC2006 / CC
It’s that time of year when I start to feel bad for some of the outdoor Christmas decorations. Especially the inflatables.
It’s bad enough to see inflatable decorations during the day, when many of them are turned off and just laying there. Little bit of colourful plastic laying on lawns. Not really recognizable as Santa or a snowman or a penguin or a reindeer or whatever they are. Yes, they are ready and willing to jump up and start cheerfully waving, but are powerless to do so unless someone flicks a switch.
But we are now reaching the time of year when some don’t get turned on even at night. They just look so sad, laying there.
Indoor Christmas trees are one of those things that everyone has their own ideas about. Some are gone right away. Some by the new year. Some have to wait until Old Christmas Day. Some just keep them as long as possible. I know people who try to hit Valentine’s each year with the tree still up.
Other indoor decorations may also hang around for a bit. But they are indoors. Only you and your close friends know they are there. So if you want to keep them around a bit longer, why not? Or, like my wife, proclaim they are “winter” decorations, not Christmas, and therefor fair game to stay up until the season is over.
But at some point, the outdoor decorations need to be put away for another year. It’s not so much the neighbours getting upset you still have Christmas decorations out. It’s more the fact you don’t want colours to fade and things to blow off so you can get another year or two out of them. At least in my mind.
Although, again, some things get declared as “winter” decorations and kept around a bit longer than they probably should be.
But there is always that balancing act. When to bring them in. Although leaving them out this time of year is a bit like putting them in the deep freeze. They keep longer that way, don’t they?
