You Serious, Clark?

Photocredit: indyschild.com

BY: RACHEL WUMKES

The Christmas season brings with it many traditions.  There are those who bake for days, perfecting the perfect reindeer-shaped sugar cookie decorated for a King, and those who have special Holiday-themed attire for all twenty-five days of Christmas.  Trees are adorned with shiny ornaments and twinkling tinsel while stockings hang from the fireplace mantel.

The beauty of Christmastime magic seems to float all around us… both inside our houses and out.

Christmas lights contribute a lot of that magic, I think.

It all began in the 17^th Century when people decorated a small tree inside their homes.  This tradition originated in Germany before spreading to eastern Europe.  Small, delicate candles were attached to the tree branches with pins or melted wax.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this has FIRE HAZARD written all over it!  I mean, fire attached to a dry, dead tree?  No wonder people didn’t live very long back then.  Good gravy.

Thankfully, in 1880, Thomas Edison introduced the first outdoor electric Christmas light display to the World.   He decorated his laboratory, which was near a railroad so many people could enjoy the spectacular exhibit.  A few years later his apprentice, Edward Johnson, created the first string of lights.

Talk about a game changer!

In 1890, the strings of lights began being mass-produced, making it possible for people everywhere to enjoy their ease and beauty.

And thus, the slow evolution of the outdoor light display.

That is, until the 1989 hit movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.  While there’s no history record of such event, I’d like to publicly declare this point in time as the official beginning of the outrageous decorating period.

Clark Griswold went a bit over the top in hopes to have the best, most magical Christmas display of luminescence at his house.  Case in point…

And while many people today still get into that decorating spirit in hopes to have their house be the best looking one on the block, there are also those people who take the easy way out.  Like this guy…

I like him.  He seems smart.

OR, thanks to all the big-box stores around the World selling the easily inflatable décor for any season, you can totally get away with bypassing Christmas lights all-together and do something like this.

I’m not saying it looks good, but ya know, to each their own!

So where are the best places to take in the glimmering beauty of illuminating majesty in Clear Lake?  Well, thanks to our many comments on a recent thread of the Clear Lakers Facebook page, here’s the top choices!

Bedford Court (also the backyard)

Orchard Lane

The inflatable masterpiece on Woodlane

Sunset View Drive

The DoCo sign on South Shore Drive

Fieldstone Neighborhood

If you’re out and about this Christmas season after the sun goes down, be sure to let us know if you come across any other spectacular light displays!

Have a wonderful, joyous Holiday season and be sure to ‘save the neck for me, Clark.’