Christmas Lights

Young Chang NEWPORT HARBOR -- Neighbors thought they were nuts in mid-November as Christmas lights, fake icicles and patriotic banners swallowed their Newport Beach homes. Some of them waited a few weeks before actually switching the lights on -- out of embarrassment, that is, from passersby who thought it funny to see Christmas lights twinkling against warm November skies. But the dozen winners of this year's Ring of Lights contest, which kicked off the 2001 Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade, don't feel embarrassed anymore.

Karen Wight Are you crazed yet? I am. And from where I'm sitting, there's no light at the end of this tunnel. In fact, there may be some serious simplification in our program this year. Now, I've read all of the make-your-life-easier books: "Simple Abundance," "The Art of Doing Nothing" and "Confessions of a Happily Organized Household." I have a subscription to Real Simple magazine. But none of that seems to apply to the holidays. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to Christmas.

Ahoy. Labor Day is the weekend that usually signals the end of summer and recreational boating as everyone returns from vacation to school and work. However, in our area, Southern California, I think that fall is the best time to be on the water because the weather is usually warm, the sea temperature is now in the 70s and the crowds are thinning. Since our waterways do not ice over nor do we experience the bitter cold, as in other northern waterways, we have the luxury of boating year-round (oh, the daytime air temperature may drop in the 50s, get me my parka)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Last year, Gay Wassall-Kelly and her husband, Bill, won the Sweepstakes Award in the Ring of Lights competition, which honors the Newport residents along the waterfront boat parade route with the best light display. "In The Wings" will return next week. "You can never overdecorate," the serving platter that our friends and neighbors gave us last year says. So true. When the judges knocked on the door and said "You won," we screamed and yelled.

It's "lights out" in the twin cities. Last week, former school board president Dana Black called Mariners Elementary School with an elementary request: unplug -- not remove -- the colored lights that parents had put up. The request caused ripples in the national media, which was searching for news because the lights went out on Al Gore's presidential bid. But there is no story here. Black was correct in placing the call to Mariners for it has been apparent for years that Christmas has no place in public schools, here or across the country.

This is it. Hang on tight. Better yet, lash yourself to the nearest pine tree with some garland. The winds of festivity are reaching hurricane force. Decorations, lights, gifts, parties -- swirling around us from every direction. We have reached the core of the holiday vortex, the eye of the yuletide storm. We do have some new wrinkles this year, though. Lights are something of an issue. At Mariners Elementary School, we had a brief outbreak of political correctness -- an annual tradition in itself -- over some lights placed around the outside of the school by parent volunteers.

AT ISSUE: Readers are still at odds about whether schools should be allowed to display decorative lights ("Holiday lights go out at Mariners Elementary," Dec. 7). I was displeased to read that Dana Black, school board president, made a point to order seasonal lights to be taken down at Mariners Elementary. From what I read in the Pilot, the lights were put up outside the classrooms by parent volunteers who were already at the site doing yard maintenance.

Stretch, hang. Stretch, hang. Stretch and hang the Christmas lights. It is time. Interesting, isn't it? Every night, driving home, a few more houses shine bright. The neighborhood becomes an oversized jigsaw puzzle, a few pieces falling into place at a time. Christmas lights are a gender-sensitive issue. Women tend to notice the aesthetics of Christmas lights. Men are much more interested in timing. In our culture, getting the bulbs up is a guy thing. We hunt, we gather, we hang the lights.

Sometimes the thought of decorating for Christmas just takes my breath away. My mind runs wild with the annual preparations as well as the new innovations I want to try. I have gotten completely out of control when it comes to decking the halls and lest I become completely overwhelmed, there is no other choice but to extend the decoration process over several days. Before I get started, I might go over to Fashion Island and check out the world's largest Christmas tree.