Wed 18 Oct 2006
I didn’t realize it but Janet doesn’t live in a very nice neighborhood. One of her neighbors has a Scooby-Doo blow-up thingy for Halloween.
In spite of the fact that I live in redneck yacht club territory, none of my neighbors have any blow-ups in their yards… yet. I do admit that one family extends their Christmas lights from the edge of their trailer over to the tree beside it in a way that defies taste. And no, they haven’t taken last year’s lights down yet, but they live a few miles from me NOT next door.
We were in the Dollar General (next door to The Pig) the other day and they had this blow-up snowman and he kept falling over. So at the check out, the cashier and I were talking about him. I was doing the smiley-isn’t-that-cute thing and telling my 8yo to look at the funny snowman. When we left the store my daughter asked me if I had lied to the lady about liking the snowman. I don’t think I ever crossed over the liking-the-snowman line but I am sure the cashier didn’t get even a shade of my real opinion about Frosty. ( If I were Amy, The Humble, I would be able to turn this all into a wonderful lesson with a Bible verse but I am more Dave Barry this morning.)
Of course, it wouldn’t be a very nice world if I went around giving my opinions to cashiers. I do enough damage on this blog. When I go out in public I pretend that I am not a curmugeon. That is what the blog is for. It is rather confusing for the children though.
If you see any Halloween or Christmas blow-ups in your neighborhood please comment. We would like to make fun of you, too. (I sure hope my mom didn’t buy one of those things. She did once buy us a furry Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer that walked across the room while playing …well, you know what he was playing and yes, his nose was blinking.)
34 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Cindy! You are so funny.
You have to admit Scooby is cute!
Comment by Janet (October 18, 2006 @ 8:31 am )
We used to live in a neighborhood liberally blighted, in fall and winter, with inflatable cats, witches, frankenstiens, santas, snowmen, etc, etc. Now, however, we live in the country, where people very rarely do such things, possibly because their chickens would peck holes in them and they’d deflate.
Personally, however, much as I dislike the inflatables, I have a pet peeve… and one not shared by the rest of my family, who like them, and point them out to me whenever they’re seen, just to be kind. Those moving light up reindeer! Up, down, up, down, up, down, go their heads, like some horrible reindeer fitness program.
Thanks for the post… always good to start off the day laughing!
Comment by Natalie (October 18, 2006 @ 8:45 am )
OK, If I had to buy a blow-up thing I would make sure it was Scooby!
Comment by Cindy (October 18, 2006 @ 8:51 am )
The first blow up thing we saw upon returning to the states was the blow up snow globe. We thought it was cute until we saw all the other blow up stuff abounding. The globe didn’t look so good a week later when it started deflating and looked dirty with pollen. My mother gave my children some of those light-up candy canes and a huge stuffed elf to sit on the porch that she found at a K-Mart clearance. I love my mom, but she takes great delight in getting anything “tacky” that will please the kids and make me crazy at the same time. Thankfully, those blow-up yard things are over the top for even our indulgent Nana.
BTW…I must confess that my son likes that goofy “Redneck Yacht Club” song - drives me right up a wall. Thankfully, I control the radio in the van. I’d be willing to bet that most of your readers don’t even know where the reference came from…I envy those people.
Comment by Sandy (October 18, 2006 @ 9:24 am )
Miss Naddy, I happen to *like* the lighted reindeer. I don’t own one….yet.
Sandy, I liked the song and the lyrics are clean so that is a plus. It reminded me of our boating days in Northern WI. What fun!
Comment by Janet (October 18, 2006 @ 10:18 am )
I’ve come to the conclusion that people who go overboard on external decorations are providing some semblance of meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives. They seem to have no judgment as to what is good and what is not. I think we see this in all the hyper-activity in political activism. I don’t watch the news much, but a couple of days ago (or maybe last night) there was a big thing about kids who had been in accidents walking to school because they live too close for the bus to pick them up. The parents are all up in arms and everyone wants the school to do something about it. This level of outrage to fix every little miniscule problem in society, I think, is a sign of the otherwise emptiness of lives. It makes them feel they are fighting for “values” in a society otherwise bereft of values. And by the same token, decorating extravagantly (no matter how tasteless) gives a semblance of old-fashioned traditions.
Naddy lives in my area! Hi, Naddy!
Comment by Patti (October 18, 2006 @ 10:49 am )
Well, not a big fan of the blowups, but I’m not overly offended by them either.
This post got me to thinking about how the toilet seat cover that has a snowman and a button to push so it will play “Frosty the Snowman” is still on my daughter’s toilet. It was a white elephant gift I received last year and she adored it, so what’s a mama to do, I ask you?
“…with a corncob pipe and a button nose…”
Comment by Amy (October 18, 2006 @ 12:56 pm )
Cindy,
I hunted down my post about blow-up Santas, and alas, it didn’t have any Bible verses. For shame, for shame.
It came awful close, though.
We have Halloween blow-up witches on our street, and when I write a post about them, I think I will use this verse: The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows…
Yes, sometimes it’s a stretch.
Comment by Amy, The Humble (October 18, 2006 @ 2:18 pm )
I think I would take it off after Christmas, Amy
Maybe we should all chip in and help Janet fit in her neighborhood. We could get her that lighted reindeer she’s always wanted.
I really do appreciate Christmas light displays and I love watching the children light up, I just think those inflatables are weird.
Comment by Cindy (October 18, 2006 @ 4:21 pm )
Oh, c’mon. Everyone had one of those walking, flashing Rudolph’s while growing up, didn’t they?
Comment by Linda (October 18, 2006 @ 5:07 pm )
I’m glad I kept the receipt, I totally misread you on this one…sorry!
Comment by Tim (October 18, 2006 @ 5:08 pm )
Another thought. While I don’t appreciate the beauty of the blow-up thingies, I find the huge, plastic nativy scenes even more offensive.
Comment by Linda (October 18, 2006 @ 5:08 pm )
So much for option #2, I thought Linda and Pat…
Comment by Tim (October 18, 2006 @ 5:16 pm )
Gee. I’m feeling left out…no blow-up thingies in my neighborhood
But for at least ten years now, I have avoided being at home on Oct 31st.
Comment by Dana (October 18, 2006 @ 5:38 pm )
Aw, Linda, that is just beyond words.
We will be in Gatlinburg this year but I am sad we will be missing our church’s party centered on the theme of John Calvin. Now that sounds like a rip-roarin’ good time.
Comment by Cindy (October 18, 2006 @ 5:51 pm )
Hey, Tim, glad to see you still read the blog!
Comment by Cindy (October 18, 2006 @ 6:01 pm )
Oh MY……..I have no blow ups but I do like some vintage plastic stuff not so much that my neighbors think I have a meaningless life or anything
A lot of the blow up stuff deflates pretty quick out here in the country especially when it hits -20….. 
Comment by Patti (October 18, 2006 @ 6:41 pm )
You know…sometimes I say things and wish I hadn’t. I only posted what I did here because I was pretty sure that none of you would fit the categories that I was talking about. I was thinking big picture here and didn’t mean to imply that all people who want to use plastic (gulp) decorations in their yards had meaningless lives. Sorry, I tend to ramble on with my thoughts not thinking about those I might offend. But believe me, if I thought any of you were guilty of what I was talking about I wouldn’t have posted it. I love Cindy’s blog! I wouldn’t want to offend any of you. I get curmudgeonly, too, and probably ought to put stuff up on my blog about it.
Comment by Patti (October 18, 2006 @ 6:46 pm )
See, Amy, The Humble lives in a bad neighborhood too. So bad that she has witches on her street and maybe some red necks. I’m sure she even *likes* that song.
Comment by Janet (October 18, 2006 @ 6:55 pm )
Patti,
I liked your comment about the meaninglessness of all that plastic. My son and I spent a few minutes discussing it.
I guess we all live in a bad blog neighborhood, Janet. I never realized how tacky some of you are
Comment by Cindy (October 18, 2006 @ 7:58 pm )
Right Next Door we have an inflatable Grinch, about 7 feet high. Ugh.
Apropos to Amy the Humble’s verse for blow up witches: How ’bout “Thou shalt not permit a witch to live?”
Cheers!
Comment by Carol in Oregon (October 19, 2006 @ 1:13 am )
Carol.
That is a long way from,”Here is the church, here is the steeple…”
Comment by Cindy (October 19, 2006 @ 7:41 am )
My MIL has one of those electronic reindeer that she breaks out every Christmas to terrify the youngest in the clan. Not intentionally! But it seems like the older kids always want to play with it and the toddlers inevitably run screaming from it. Great fun for all. As for the blowup figures, we have one neighbor - thankfully, not within sight - with three huge spooky “things” in their front yard. Very tacky especially in the midst of all the gorgeous New England foliage. What do you call a Yankee redneck anyway?
Comment by Emily (October 19, 2006 @ 1:30 pm )
This is off the subject but do any of you know where I could find old-time gospel hymns on the internet,I have tried without succeeding. Cindy’s Mom
Comment by quaintoldgal (October 19, 2006 @ 3:22 pm )
You know, I was feeling smug about not having any neighbors tacky enough to decorate their lawns with blow-up figures. However, my daughter was out walking today and said she saw one neighbor (mind you, only ONE), many blocks away, with a witch on the front lawn. Sigh. Oh well, to quote one of my favorite children’s books, “Could be worse!”.
And, Tim, it’s the thought that counts. It’s nice to know you’re thinking of us!
Comment by Linda (October 19, 2006 @ 4:07 pm )
Hey, Cindy’s mom,
Have you tried cyberhymnal.org?
Comment by Linda (October 19, 2006 @ 4:11 pm )
Cindy, speaking of curmudgeons and holiday decorations, my kids and I were visiting the nursing home today. We were talking to some residents in the dining area when I happened to look more closely at the centerpiece on their table. It was dark purple mylar spiders on fuzzy purple bendable ’stems’, sort of a cross between a floral arrangement and a Medusa head. I said, “Oh, look, isn’t that interesting?!” One of the old ladies promptly snapped, “I hate it!” I leaned over and quietly said, “I said it was INTERESTING, not attractive! But look!” I continued, touching the arrangement, “you can bend the wires and arrange it in different ways. It’s very versatile!” She replied, “I’d like to throw it outside so it can be versatile out there!” Needless to say, she is one of our family’s favorite people-to-visit!
Comment by Sally in OH (October 19, 2006 @ 6:59 pm )
I haven’t seen it in any neighborhood yet, but I saw Home Depot was carrying a big blowup globe for Halloween. It had a ghost in the middle and these things swirling around that looked like bats if you stood back from it.
We have lots of those witch decorations in our neighborhood. The kind where the witch looks like she ran into a tree or crashed in the ground.
Comment by Kim (October 19, 2006 @ 8:24 pm )
My mom says the most ridiculous decorations are the big *snowmen* on the lawns in Florida!
Recently I saw a house with a very tiny fenced front yard that contained at least FIVE of those huge blow-up Halloween things. It was stuffed–from fence to fence. We always get this incredible urge to bring the BB gun…
Comment by homefire (October 19, 2006 @ 9:16 pm )
I live in quite an upscale neighborhood and would you believe it? The neighbors on both sides of me have big blowup Halloween thingys in the yard. Ive never taken a close enough look at either to know what they are. They’re just ghastly! I class them right along with those ugly plastic pink flamingoes. Thankfully no one in our neighborhood has those or I truly would move out!
Comment by mrs darling (October 19, 2006 @ 11:29 pm )
Well, the pink flamingoes are making a comeback around here also. There is no doubt we live in affluent times.
Comment by Cindy (October 20, 2006 @ 8:03 am )
Dear Linda, Thanks for the tip I will try it.By the way, Cindy’s Dad can’t wait to get to the store to buy Cindy one of those….I won’t spoil the surprise. Cindy’s Mom
Comment by quaintoldgal (October 20, 2006 @ 8:40 am )
quaintoldgal, I hope it is hideous. I mean really, really awful.
lol
Comment by Janet (October 20, 2006 @ 10:28 am )
No comment on the inflatable decorations (yeeeow!), but I do want to comment on “The Pig.” I lived in Small Town America growing up, and that same town is my trade town since my family and I live on a ranch now. We had The Pig as our neighborhood grocery store like you did, and the funny thing is this: although it has changed hands several times, most folks still call it The Pig. I don’t shop there anymore, but have chosen the other small grocery store on the north side of town which has the same old-time “small town” ways about it. They know how to sack your cold things in double paper sack and in the summertime they add dry ice for those of us who have to drive an hour to the ranch. If I have the orange juice that’s not on special in my cart, the checker, Joanne, will tell me which one IS on special and will send the sacker boy to go get it for me. I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only person who shops at a grocery store where the people really do love their customers.
You’ve warmed my heart.
~Jody
Comment by Jody (October 20, 2006 @ 10:26 pm )