Last year, we decided not to turn off our outdoor Christmas lights on January 1st as we have in the past. We turned off the strings of lights sometime in January or early February, but our flamingo stayed lit up until late February. Or maybe it was March? (Just looked it up – it was APRIL!) But, it doesn’t really matter. It was well past our usual date and well past the date that most people would find acceptable.

But, a flamingo is a warm-weather bird, right? So he shouldn’t need to be limited to December only. And you’d have to look fairly close to see that he’s wearing a santa hat. Would it be acceptable if he wasn’t wearing a santa hat?

It really got me thinking: what’s so unacceptable about lights outside December? If you think about it, we put up lights because they bring us joy. Why is it so bad if they go up a bit early or stay on for a little longer? January can be a very dark and cold month; we need all the joy we can get!

This year has been no different. The strings of lights came down January 1, but our flamingo remained.

Today, Charles warned me that he thought he should come down when the last of the snow melts from our lawn. I figured that’s fine.

Then the gnomes can come out!