lights will guide you home

As you approach the turn-in to my apartment, you may see a glow. One glow comes from the parking lot light (about 4 jillion yellow kilowatts of pure city power) which in turn requires me to have blackout curtains in order to sleep without feeling like I live in Alaska in the winter (here is where you make reference to the movie Insomnia). Really the curtains are navy-blue, but you get my point. The other, more etheral glow comes from lower to the ground. What could that heavenly light be you ask? Try the monstrocity that is two yard reindeer, flashing Christmas balls hanging from a decripid tree, a plastic archway lined with lights and your friendly neighborhood inflatable Santa Claus. And this is mild.

Lets get one thing straight, I love Christmastime, I truly do (and I love the way Christmastime looks spelled out). But really, there is no need to ransack your neareast K-Mart garden-area-that-turns-into-the Holiday-decorations-section every Novemeber in order to one-up the entire neighborhood. Funnier still is the fact that the other decripid tree in the yard has been neglected flahsing Christmas ball privileges and is only allowed shiny balls with glitter swirls and stripes. No other house on the street has lights in any capacity, although if you make a right two blocks down you will find inflatable Santa's friend the Abominable Snowman from everyone's favorite holiday classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (the version where his nose lights up and kind of screeches at you in a testing-1,2,3-oh-your-mike-got-way-too-close-to the-speaker-and-deafened-the-audience kind of way. You all know what I mean and we love it anyways.) But don't worry, the Santa and friends are only inflated and properly lit after 6 p.m.

Now the yard I see from my lovely balcony is nice, but it is a lame attempt at Christmas cheer compared to the house you may see (who am I kidding, if you miss it you don't have eyes) driving down Campus Court near the new dorm on campus. You probably all know which house I speak of, but let me just give you a picture. There are probably a good 4000 lights on a small white house. They line the chain-link fence, the roofline, the yard, the sidewalks. The lights are accompanied by plastic reindeer, snowmen, Santas, the whole nine yards. It is truly something to marvel at. It flashes and spins and you half expect the house to take off. You stop at the 4-way stop sign and can't help but stare. That my friends is Christmas cheer.

I will say these houses always make me smile. Even though I may think they are a little tacky, or overdone, it just wouldn't be the holidays without them. Seriously, the house near Campus Court looks that way every Christmas and has since I moved here when I was 11. You can't help but love it.

I have no other news really. Its been awhile since my last "post" and a lot has gone through my head. I will save it for another day. I'm leaving for Kylie's wedding weekend after I get off work today and I could not be more excited. Well minus the packing part. It will be busy, but it will be great. So until I return to Abilene on Sunday, rest well, stay warm, listen to good music and find as many inflatable holiday toys in your city/town/Indian village as possible. Love it.