Light Bright Nights

Welp, they got me to click. I honestly thought it was going to be a local story about Christmas lights. Silly me. It’s just an amalgamation of opinions aggregated from all of Patchland. Blah.

Ellicott City Patch: One reader detests inflatables "with every fiber of my being. Another wonders what Mickey Mouse, tin soldiers have to do with Christmas.

Outdoor Christmas Displays: What's Tacky, What's Not? [Block Talk]

Yes, I would be interested in knowing what people from different areas of Columbia/HoCo think of Christmas lights. It might be…illuminating. What’s popular in the New American City? Pet peeves in Clarksville? Ideas from Maple Lawn, Elkridge, Lisbon? It’s a big county, you know. I am so darned tired of political divisions. I’d be thrilled to see if anything unites us here in Howard County.

To be honest, I enjoy all kinds of Christmas lights. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a display that doesn’t make me smile. Some of the critiques in the Patch article feel like much ado about nothing. The only things I can imagine that would be a dealbreaker for me would be constantly flashing lights or broadcasting loud music along with the lights. I can see how that would be hard on one’s neighbors. Update: I thought of one more. If someone integrated their political opinions into Christmas lights I’d undoubtedly be disgusted.

Giving credit where it’s due, I did discover a HoCoLocal event on Ellicott City Patch.

Green Angels Design Center? Oh. I know that house. It’s near Iron Bridge Wine Company. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it was a business. They’re hosting a drive-through lights event, plus you can register on their website to stroll the holiday garden display.

There’s no admission fee listed but they are requesting donations of canned goods for the Food Bank.

Since the Patch article didn’t give me what I was looking for, let’s do it ourselves. Here are the categories touched on in the article:

Colored lights
White lights
Net lights
Color coordination
Blow molds
Inflatables
Spacing
Themes
Layout

In case you are wondering what blow molds are, here is a photo from EBay of the Santa Mouse we had when I was little. My teenage sister dubbed him “the Turned-On Mouse”, a joke I did not get until many years later.

You can still buy them but they definitely have a retro vibe. They’ve mostly been replaced by inflatables.

So, what are your opinions on Christmas lights? Love them? Hate them? Like them only if they conform to your aesthetic tastes? Let me know. Maybe we can write the authentically local article that can only be found in the place where Columbia and Howard County intersect.

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