It's Christmas time here in Hawaii!! Around this time of year, Hawaii suffers from the same predicament as Los Angeles -- bright, sunny days when it's the season for snowy celebrations. In Hawaii, the effect is hilarious because, for some reason, the people around here just looooove decorating their homes and shopping centers with the biggest, tackiest, snowiest Christmas decarations availble, proudly displayed amidst the coconut trees and tropical foliage. My theory is that, because the weather isn't conducive to wintery merriment, people try extra-special-hard to get into the Christmas spirit!
My very street in Waimea features one lawn with a giant snow globe with three life-sized snowmen in it, complete with lights and fake snow blowing around inside. Another home is decorated with standard Christmas lighting, plus, for extra flavor, the phrase "MERRY CHRIST" has been spray-painted on the great big cinder block lining the front of the property. (Classy!) Our shopping center's courtyard now has an inflatable polar bear, an inflatable Santa, and a 15-foot plastic Christmas tree!!
Back in my anti-Christmas, elitist-fundamentalist-Christian days, my sister and I used to play a game where we pointed at our neighbor's Christmas decorations, calling out "pagan!" and "heathen!" whenever we saw Santas and nativity scenes and the like. (Isn't that weird?!) We'd sure have great fun playing that game here...!
