Holiday Lights!!!

I began seeing them as early as mid-October; before long came mid-November and there were sprouting up more and more and now, this being the second week of December there are probably thousands upon thousands of homes across America with these eyesores; I’m speaking of course about holiday lights.

They are everywhere you look and whether you like it or not, they are here to stay at least until late February or early March. Why do people put the time and effort into putting up lights and lawn ornaments, when it will cost them so much on their electric bills? To some, decorating their homes or apartments for that matter is a form of freedom…freedom of expression that is, to support the commercialism of Christmas that surrounds it.

In a small way for me, it’s kind of neat, but not really, considering the feelings that go hand in hand at this time of year, which is anger, frustration and of course depression; holidays seem to have that effect on people in general.

The problem with seeing so many lights and lawn ornaments is quite frankly confusing, if not troublesome. On most lawns or businesses I pass by while I’m driving, I usually see a Santa Claus on the roof with a couple of reindeer, while below I saw the depiction of baby Jesus in the manger surrounded by the three wise men.

On other lawns, I sometimes see those swanky inflatable snowmen, Santa Clauses and polar bears holding gifts, a slight rip-off to those stupid Coca-Cola polar bears of years ago that I see almost everywhere I go. Makes a fellow like me want to toss a direct out of my car window every time I see one of those damn things!

But come to think of it, decorating the outside of a home has actually gotten out of hand. You know what I’m talking about; those little dinky flags and banners that have a picture of a rabbit and an Easter egg or a banner with a four-leaf clover signifying St. Patrick’s Day (along with beer bottles by the dozens the day after St Patrick’s day stacked neatly in rows at the curb along with the rest of the trash on garbage day).

Then of course, there’s Halloween; too much decoration mishegas to mention; but it almost makes Christmas decorating like a fresh competitor!

Every once in a while, I do get to see my own tribe represented and by tribe I mean of course, Judaism. In and around my community for the past several years, I’ve seen a beat-up wooden-paneled station wagon drive around town with a giant electrical lit-up menorah strapped with heavy rope to the roof of the car. It’s kind of nice to see those during Hanukah, verses, Christmas trees with baby Jesus beneath them all the time.

Still, one of my favorite Hanukah stories is one that was relayed to me by a college classmate. It was a mid-December back in the late 1980s when Jerry Garcia was still living large and smoking hay, while flailing away his grand music. He told me he was sitting in a San Francisco café sipping a cup of coffee, when two Chassid Jewish men in full regalia, enter the café and go from table to table, asking everybody inside if they had a couple of extra tickets to the then-annual New Year’s Eve Grateful Dead show.

When the response came back negative, meaning there were no tickets to be had, the two men thanked everybody graciously, hopped back into their bright green Volkswagen and sped off, perhaps looking for tickets. Atop the roof of the Volkswagen, said my friend, was a brightly-lit giant menorah!

There are other holidays during this next month, including Kwanza, which is bright and festive too. I have yet to see a giant Kwanza menorah-like object strapped to the roof of any car, but it could happen…well maybe!