It's Christmas Time In The City

By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

One thing I have to say about my neighbor Steve Weisman …well there are two things….he loves Christmas and he gets a little crazy at this time of the year. First of all, the sheer fact that we live on Bedford Drive (You know, like “It’s A Wonderful Life” Bedford Falls ) indicates how far he takes this obsession with Christmas. In other words, I don’t think that it is a coincidence that he lives on Bedford Drive. And I doubt it is a coincidence his name is Weisman (as in Wiseman)

Steve, his two children and lovely wife start decorating their home for Christmas in the summer. Ok, it just seems that way. Actually he starts on December 26...as in December 26, 2011 for the 2012 display.

Steve is always looking for deals on Christmas decorations. He hits the Estate Sale and garage sale circuit pretty good looking for the perfect Christmas decorations for his yard. His yard at Christmas is like the Who’s Who of Christmas Ornaments. You name it, he’s got it. Except for those inflatable Homer Simpsons and Santa Claus and Frosty the Snow men….Steve doesn’t go in for the inflatables apparently.

Which leads me to digress a little bit…When you are doing a Christmas presentation on your front lawn…and this is just a suggestion… go with either the religious motif or the “fun” motif. This is what I don’t want to see on any lawn in America…Jesus in a manger, the three Wisemen, A cross on top of your house AND a 20 foot inflatable Homer Simpson in a Santa Outfit. You either have to go one way or another. Steve primarily understands this…he goes for the fun in Christmas primarily. Steve could go religious…he’s a devoted Lutheran and he sends his two kids to wonderful Lutheran schools but he decided to go the fun route.

So a survey of Steve’s lawn will find a penguin in a tophat, lit candy cains, and my personal favorite a working Ferris wheel full of winter creatures like penguins or maybe it’s a big mouse dressed like a penguin… I’m not sure, a train on the roof, assorted lit reindeers, snowmen, and American Flag draped over his fence. 4 large Evergreens covered with lights…well you get the idea.

Steve single-handily keeps the White Cotton bunting industry going. The local fabric store in Fullerton here sees him coming and they know that they will meet their profit margin for the year. He rolls yards of that stuff onto his yard so that it looks like snow and he basically sacrifices his lawn for the Christmas display. Nothing can grow after he puts all that bunting down.

Steve isn’t the only one on my street that gets into the Christmas spirit on Bedford Drive. In fact it’s like peer pressure to not only have a Christmas display…You have to give 100%. Effort. You have to bring your “A” game when you are doing Christmas decorations on Bedford Drive. A couple of years ago, I startled everybody on my street. They thought I had converted to Judaism, which would have been cool with my neighbors, because they are cool and embrace religious diversity, but that would also have meant I would have been the only one on the block without Christmas decorations.

It was a series of events that made it appear I had in fact become one of the Chosen. First of all, I accidentally bought Hannakuh wrap from Steve’s daughter Stephanie for the school. I meant to buy the snowman ensemble but somehow I marked the code for the Hannakuh wrap on the order sheet. It’s beautiful in silver and blue metallic, but not Christmassy. Then, the former owner of my home, Jay, left me boxes of old colorful Christmas lights. One thing about me is that I like the white Icicle lights and simple elegance of the aforementioned so I don’t use the color lights. So, I went to Steve and simply said, “I won’t be needing these anymore” and he gave me a concerned “Come back to the flock” look.

The third thing that happened was that I could not make Steve’s annual Neighborhood Holiday bash at his home due to another commitment which totally looked like I was snubbing my Christian bretheren. And to top everything else, since I was gone for most of December that year…I literally didn’t put up any ornaments until December 24. But on December 24 everybody knew I was still a Christian….a lazy, procrastinating Christian mind you…but one still the same.

So I wish all of my neighbors (and everybody else for that matter) a wonderful and safe Holiday season. And if you experience a spike in your electric bill this month because of your Christmas lights and decorations and you wonder if it is all worth the money and time and effort just think of Steve Weisman and realize that some youngster is probably visiting Bedford Drive right now with his parents and staring with awe at the Weisman’s beautiful and wonderful Christmas decorations.