Yard decorations are optional

Before you go out and buy any more yard decorations for the holidays please ask yourself the following questions. Are you buying them because you feel obligated? Are you putting them in your shopping cart (or clicking your mouse) because they are on sale? Are you being manipulated by market appeal? Have you forgotten the dusty boxes at the back of your garage - the ones containing ornaments from years ago that didn’t really work that well? 

I don’t mean to be negative. And I am not suggesting that yard ornaments are necessarily bad. There are several homeowners in our town that are very creative and have a real talent for beautifying their yards. Unfortunately, there are others that aren’t and that don’t. 

You don't become an accomplished artist by only using paint-by-number sets. Just like you don't play for the Orchestra of Southern Utah merely because you learned to play the recorder in 4th grade. You have to have talent and you have to work at it. Creating a beautifully decorated yard is also demanding. It requires forethought, creativity, and a good amount of effort. Randomly placing a reindeer on the lawn doesn’t qualify. And, by the way, in North America we might consider calling reindeer by their American name. Once Mr. Kringle and his conveyors cross into American airspace they become caribou - with all due respect to Rudolf. 

There are a couple of holidays that surpass all others in clutter. Unfortunately, they both occur at the end of the year and tend to build on each other. They also occur right along with our favorite and most meaningful holidays and sometimes this is distracting. Sometimes the excess is just poor taste. 

According to the company Statista, Americans value five holidays more than any other. They are: Thanksgiving (at the top of the list), followed by Christmas, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Mother’s Day. The list isn’t all that surprising although I did find a few of the statistics unexpected. For example, Halloween didn’t show up until tenth place, even though it is just behind Christmas as the most expensive. 

In our neighborhood we have giant inflatable witches, glowing spiders, and ghosts that hold each other’s hands. Some of them are still outside, waiting for the next iteration of toys. We have a two-story skeleton that looks cadaverously down our street. It must have been pricey. We have strings of orange lights in trees and along fences with grinning Franken-stitched dolls on slats. It’s hard to tell who is laughing at whom.

Don't get me wrong. I love the festive spirit. But let’s not forget that spending money is not the reason we have grateful and caring hearts. It is now the season for fond memories and good cheer. It is the season for walking through neighborhoods that are tastefully considered and carefully tinseled, by real artists. And there should be no shame if the rest of us leave the decorating to them.