Southwest Florida Christmas Lights

 

Southwest Florida Christmas Lights!  SW Florida is a perfect place to spend the Christmas Holidays! You might think that strange…

No Winter season? you ask.

True, I miss the first snowfall as I have said in an earlier post!  And the romantic in me misses the times (as kids)… that we raced our sleds down steep hills and made snow angels in newly fallen snow.

However, … at my age now…I don’t miss all that cold snow inside my snowboots, freezing my …. ankles! AND with my nose running like a waterfall! AND cheeks so cold, looking like I put a whole pot of rouge..(do they say that term these days) on each chubby cheek!

Or not being able to keep enough kleenix tissues in my heavy down coat pockets… because my fingers tucked inside my mittens were not conducive to working adeptly.  (I would leave bits and pieces of torn tissue scattered about making one think of a dizzy Hansel and Gretel dropping their bread crumbs)! 😉

Sigh! I do miss going into the house after playing in the snow and warming myself by the fireplace and drinking hot chocolate and eating sugar cookies.

Strike that last part.  We didn’t have a fireplace and it was my grandmother who made the sugar cookies….but my Mother did make the hot chocolate and we did have a floor furnace that smelled of something burning when it popped on and off!  

(It also made a funny noise…I used to think someone was down in the basement banging on the metal) Do any of you remember these things? I used to stand on our floor furnace until the bottoms of my shoes became too warm, at which point I’d jump off.  I told you I was weird like that! ;(

Something I have learned to love about Florida Holidays …  is the lights! It seems that people living in Florida, decorate the outside of their homes a lot more than people living in freezing temperatures. It is amazing to drive down streets where every house is decorated, top to bottom, business included.

The Holiday Festival of Lights is spectacular!   Boats are all decked out in twinkling, dazzling brilliance as the boat owners parade their boats along the shore!

There are many favorite displays to see;  such as a community in which each resident lights up their lawns and each street somehow coordinates the colors.

Another street has giant candy canes on every mailbox! Another street has giant open Christmas Cards made with two 4X8 pieces of plywood joined with hinges. They are painted in bright Christmas Colors and are propped in their front yards with a written salutation saying… Merry Christmas from the Jones or Smiths or whatever their names are.

I have that project on my “to do list”  or should I say the Captain’s list…I just haven’t gotten around to working out the details. (I have been saying that for several years….ever since I saw a street in Olathe, Kansas with this same Christmas Card Lane)…..

Below is a pic from one of those cards to give you an idea in case you haven’t seen them. They usually put a spotlight on them…very energy efficient. Some are more elaborate than others.

Another street has lighted arches over the road and of course there are beautiful displays at the Thomas Edison Estate and the Henry Ford Estate.  Yes, these well-known inventors had homes in SW Florida! There are also museums and one can visit their homes any time of the year. (That info will be another Post)

And then there is one of the most spectacular displays that takes the owners several months to set up.  There are lights on everything… all blinking in reds, blues, greens, yellow and white!  Plus, the display is set to Christmas music and one can sit in your car for the 20 minute “show” … if that is your wish…or one can just drive through!

Note: too much work for me, but it is enjoyable to drive by each year to see what inch of space on the roof or in the yard is newly utilized.  The Scrooge in me would not want to see their electric bill…but it tis the Season and it is truly a wonderland.

I especially like the part of the display when suddenly all the lights go off and there are three wise men on camels, … following the brilliant white star atop the roof and then it happens! …. The music stops and spotlights come on (dimmed and muted) … and Santa bows down to the baby Jesus! There is time for reflection as we remember the Reason for the Season! …and I have to tell you …it is a most reverent moment for the Captain and Me.

Merry Christmas Everyone!