Every year around this time the debates start. When is it too early to start decorating? I’m sure you’ve already seen trees in front windows in your neighbourhood long before Remembrance Day. Depending on what side of the holiday fence you sit on, this sight either gets you excited or gets you rolling your eyes. I have to admit – I sure ain’t rolling mine, because I started months ago.

Let me clarify – I’m not putting up lights and tinsel in the middle of May, but I am working on my yard. We have one of those crazy yards that people go out of their way to look at and the best time to amp up the crazy is in the summer.

You see, I’m a bit of holiday yard purist. While I’m all for LED lights, I deplore inflatable decorations. I think they’re lazy and the wrong kind of tacky all together. I prefer to go old school, with wood cut outs (I currently have ten) and plastic blow moulds (I think I’ve passed the thirty mark). You can’t find these in the stores anymore, so garage sales, thrift stores and the internet are my hunting grounds. You need to have your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground at all times. Nothing gets my heart beating faster than seeing the smile of a snowman as I drive by a garage sale.

Is it obsessive? A bit. But, I could obsess about a lot of worse things. And it’s also a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. Our collection grows every year and now that we’re a few years into it, it’s starting to become a holiday tradition for both my family and the neighbourhood. It’s nice to hear neighbours tell us how their kids look forward to our Christmas display going up. Or the anonymous notes we get in our mailbox every year, thanking us for the lights. It almost makes the prospect of having to rent a blow mould storage locker worth it.