The bizarrely huge 'deer and the requisite oversized Santa/sleigh rig (visible way in the background) are a touchstone of Xmastime in the neighborhood. Something you sort of count on, like maybe the swallows returning to Capistrano every year.
This year TSG was shocked to see a major "upgrade" -- the old school reindeer have been replaced with what appear to be some kind of pre-fab cut-out looking things. Progress? Maybe, but in our opinion the old ones had a funky charm that can't be matched by the new cookie-cutter version. The new ones are probably a bit more kid-friendly, though...those big brown monsters could be kind of scary looking to an unsuspecting youngster.
2 comments:
That is quite the difference. Are they still displayed the same way, yard to yard, linked by reins (or whatever you call the tack) of Xmas lights? And, was there an upgrade (downgrade, sideways-grade) to Santa and his sleigh?
Change happens. But, I agree that things that become a tradition, and especially things that tie in to the traditions of something as tradition-bound as Christmas, are harder to accept.
I'll bet it's a lot easier to store these new reindeer, huh?
Reminds me (who knows why) that I once, a couple of decades ago, rewrote the lyrics of Rudolph as "Roger, the Brown-nosed Reindeer," all about this reindeer in corporate service who pleased Santa and advanced in rank via brownnosing ways.
The cut-out 'deer are shared across several front yards as in the past, but there is major renovation work going on at one house that has Dasher imprisoned behind a construction fence. At the time of my visit, new-style Santa was not on display and I didn't see the usual light sting reindeer tack.
Readers curious about Rudolph 2.0 should check for updates on the willowglenreindeer facebook page.
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