A Florida man didn’t do the crime this time, well, according to his HOA he did. He put up his Christmas lights too early. How dare he!
The story caught my eye since HOAs should learn to be a little flexible and keep holiday cheer. And, in case you are wondering when to take down your lights, I agree with the Florida man – the more cheer the better with COVID and I liked how people put them up in quarantine. In some cultures the lights stay up until Candlemas – Groundhog Day.
So, bring on the holiday cheer. Put those lights up and may all your Christmases be merry and bright. And with good neighbors!
cohousingtruthblog 
Were you still living in cohousing at Christmas time? I’ve searched your posts and haven’t found it. I wonder what it was like and have a few questions about it.
Good question. I spent one Christmas there and I’m looking back on my blogs and maybe I didn’t write about it. I know I posted my Christmas Catio picture on 12/22/22. I’m going to dust off my keyboard and write my holiday memories now.
I read the article and that HOA sounds extreme, especially as the homeowner said that they could leave the lights off until after XMAS. The comments were interesting, especially one that said the following, ” It is sad there are HOA’s that go to extreme enforcement of documents when a little understanding goes a long way unless the HOA is using violations to collect revenue and if that’s the case shame on them.”
With how things are going in this country I’m not surprised by such extreme policies. I personally don’t like seeing decorations until after Thanksgiving, although it is pushed so early. I often feel that there’s little time to savor fall, which is usually my favorite season. I like the warmer days and beauty of it. It’s a season that I wish would linger. I think there’s a lyric in a classic song, “oh, how I hate to see October go,” and I feel the same.
I’ll have to look up that song. Fall is my favorite season – the smells, the colors! When I moved to California, my friend in Minnesota sent me some of the leaves. That’s why I decided to live in Minnesota my whole life – from my first fall there. But like every time I say I want to live here forever, other life events change that. I was going to move back to Minnesota but once I saw that it doesn’t snow in May in other parts of the country, I never moved back.
The song is called “When October Goes”. The version I heard was performed by Rosemary Clooney and it has the classic sound of songs from her era. I did a little research and it is a ballad based on a lyric Johnny Mercer had written but did not complete. He wrote Moon River and other successful songs of the time. As the story goes in his last year, as he was dying from brain cancer, Mercer became fond of Manilow’s music. After his death, his widow arranged to give some unfinished lyrics he had written to Manilow to possibly develop into complete songs. It was matched up to a melody by Barry Manilow and released in 1984. Songs like this make me feel like putting on an apron and making a pumpkin pie. Here’s a link to the Manilow song:
I love Barry Manilow! What a treat. Thank you for doing all that research.
You’re welcome. I love his music too.
He writes the song the world sings!