What would you guys think about having a custom of “winter lights” in society?

[WhiteSteve]

I always enjoy the aesthetic of Christmas lights in neighborhoods, town and city centers, etc, probably disproportionate to the amount I’m even into the holiday of Christmas.

I’m always bummed when January rolls around, just as winter is really getting started, and all the lights come down (other than that one neighbor we all have, haha). Christmastime is mostly late fall, other than four days. So we’ve blown our wad here in the first week of winter.

Where I'm from, winter sucks. It’s cold, it’s slippery, and snow is nice for a couple of hours and then it becomes a dirty, slushy mess. These are the times when I wish I had the pick-me-up of Christmas lights, but they’re usually gone by the time real winter weather comes along.

So…. what if we switched it up a little? What if Christmastime just kind of ushered in “Winter Lights” season, people could decorate as they currently do, but just everyone does it, whether you do Christmas or not. Then, after Christmas, we just leave it up the rest of winter, but you take down the Santas and the reindeer and anything else specific to Christmas. I just think it would be cool to keep those good feelings rolling all the way through March.

Now, I don’t know how this plays out in warmer climates, or the Southern Hemisphere, I haven’t thought it all the way through yet, lmao.

But yeah, what would you all think about lights all winter?

I am pro-light

Light is meaningless…

Take the Physical Challenge

[WindAtMyBack]

I'm not big into Christmas, but I love Christmas lights.

I miss the old nativity scenes. When I was s kid they were common in parking lots at shopping centers. They mainly quit doing it because they were too religious. I don't care if they were religious, they were nice and peaceful.

It seems like the number of lights where I live are increasing. I think a lot of people buy one new string of lights each year, so it keeps increasing. Plus with LED bulbs, you can get huge long strings of lights without blowing breakers. In the old days with incandescent bulbs, there was a limit to how many lights you could have.

[WhiteSteve]

Agreed, I like the peace of the nativity scenes too, despite being non-religious myself. Doesn’t offend me to see them, so I say put them out if you like them. Although, under these proposed rules, they’d be part of the Christmas-specific stuff that’s only for December. Definitely much easier doing lights now, with net lights for bushes and shrubs, etc, plus the electrical stuff you mentioned.

[RavVid]

Southern Hemisphere feedback here. There are some localities in which people do it. As it is our summer though it gets dark later so it might be 9 pm by the time it is dark. So i said meaningless.

But who doesn't like bud lighting? I'd go bud lighting rather than Christmas lighting. In fact I was on a local council committee and we wanted that but as it was Greens dominated and woke they ranted about green house gasses.

The woke would go around at night and destroy Christmas lighting because it would infuriate then at being white.

[Anonymous]

That would be amazing. I agree it would make Winter less “dreary”. I especially love white lights wrapped around trees and fences - I’d love to see those all year.

[WhiteSteve]

Right? You totally get it👊

[purplepoppy]

I hate when you see blue flashing lights in your car rear mirror and then realise it's just Christmas lights.

[WhiteSteve]

I have a neighbor a little down the street who has some automatic light come on when you pass at night, and it’s blue. Freaks me out every time, lmao. I would definitely be open to a blue light ban🚫

[Red_Arrow]

Worse when you realize the blue flashing Christmas lights are following you.

[RavVid]

I was on a long country drive (Australian long not UK long) and the car developed a fault. It started playing a cheerful medley of emergency vehicle siren sounds. As we approached the car ahead, which had been going at 120 K as i was, it rapidly decelerated to the legal 100 K and let me have the right lane..

i have never had so much female evils directed to me before or since. I think she would have preferred flashing blue lights in the rear vision.

Fortunately the car decided to get better as we got into the outskirts of Melbourne. Not a peep out of it after that.

[Massageman]

The lights are a nice thought, but then that would be diluting the Reason for the Season, the True Light of the World if the Christmas stuff came down.

[WhiteSteve]

I can respect that angle👍

[AviatorTom]

Just last night, my SO and I drove around looking at Christmas lights. Keeping them up longer would be nice.

[WhiteSteve]

That’s always an awesome drive. I live near a rich town with some well groomed, recently developed upper middle class neighborhoods that seem to go all out at war with each other. It’s almost a little gaudy, but I still enjoy driving by. I think my favorite is more working class kitsch, with the big fat multi-colored bulbs on a small bush they’re disproportionately big for, in a small yard with a chain link fence, in front of a dingy, no-frills house with vinyl siding that could use a good power washing. Love that whole vibe😝

[NathanDavis]

lights all over the place all the time?

no thanks... would make my fangs feel itchy...

[WhiteSteve]

Honestly, this was kind of vampirophobic of me to even suggest. I’ll try to be better in 2024😔

[NathanDavis]

if, though... at least

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szLmAPW39uE

[WhiteSteve]

Go hard or go home👍

[Anonymous]

I kinda think after the celebration of T-giving, the spirit of the Christmas season, and the fun of New Year's Eve, that embracing the absolute SUCK of January and February is good. You can just put your head down and start out the year with some hard work and then take a break with the weather turns to spring.

[WhiteSteve]

Winter is definitely an embrace the suck season, haha

[matchrestore]

Our downtown association leaves the lights in the trees on most of the winter. They're classic warm white lights, so they feel less like they belong only at Christmas

[WhiteSteve]

Yeah, that’s what I use for my exterior lights. Something someone else said made me think that we should maybe keep the “winter lights” to warm white (or I guess you could allow cool white for variety). Something about the multicolored lights does scream Christmas to me, so I’d listen to the idea that maybe those should be exclusively used during the holiday season. I’m going back and forth on that…. but I certainly feel like warm white lights are most appropriate for the lighting of municipal properties.

[Jamie05rhs]

I like the idea. However... We really can't do that. Because it would add to everyone's carbon footprint. For the sake of the planet, I think it's good that we keep the lights displays segregated to one month.

[WhiteSteve]

Good point. Wonder if we could make them solar powered or something, though, I can’t imagine they’d individually require more power than they could draw on their own. I like where your head is at, either way🫡

[Jamie05rhs]

Thanks, man! :)

[ImHere22]

So the influx of energy costs, what happens with that?

[WhiteSteve]

We need people like you to ask the practical questions, haha

[spartan55]

I think that's a great idea. You work for the power company? 😂😂😂

[WhiteSteve]

Yessir, and we want every city and town brimming with Clark W. Griswolds!💰💰💰

[spartan55]

That reminds me I need to do my annual 'Christmas Vacation' viewing.

[antelope51]

Well, the rolling brown-outs of summer come to mind. In winter it could be deadly to lose power for something as silly as twinkle lights always on. And winter bills are already expensive without adding electricity. I don't know. It just feels kinda wasteful unless you get solar-powered lights or something.

[WhiteSteve]

Yeah, a few people have mentioned the energy aspect. Definitely something you’d have to consider. There’s gotta be some kind of solar option they could come up with, I’d guess they just don’t because we’re usually just doing it 3-6 weeks, currently.

[sean1234]

When Jesus is your lord and savior, you realize that the 7th day Saturday is the real sabbath and that Christmas is a pagan holiday, those as you call "good feelings" are all year, especially on the sabbath.

[strateguy632]

hmm did jesus ever say... any of that?

[sean1234]

The Bible talks about every subject. It might not use our words of today, like Christmas, or tattoos or whatever, but that doesn't mean it's not in the bible.

[sean1234]

Even when something is said word for word easily, people somehow translate it differently. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[milyjohn]

Good