For a sense of scale…
The penguins are three to four feet tall, so the highest star is about sixteen feet up there. Overall, the display is about a third bigger than last year’s. The neighbors honk and wave as they see me tacking it all together—with the exception of one older man who pulled over and yelled, “Do you know you’re creating a hazard!?”
The last thing I want to create is an attractive nuisance, so I talked to the sheriff. He says he loves the lights and to keep putting them up. This past Friday a reporter from CBS news interviewed me as I put on the finishing touches, look for that video this coming Saturday on a morning profile. Link to come.
Perhaps I’ll never understand my motivation, but I could stand and watch these lights until I froze to death. When I was drinking, I would lurk in the dark forest with a glass of wine and watch families filming as their kids danced around in the bright colors. While supplies last, I give people extra remote controls so they can stop by and change the colors and flashing patterns to suit their tastes.
It’s all a labor of love.
I can’t wait until I own a freaking house so I can annoy my neighbors. I’ll probably be drinking on the roof rather than barking in the woods.
So beautiful!