Every year in February my wife and I say we aren't going to do Christmas Lights again as we look at the cabling, lights, features and accessories waiting to be put away in the cold, dark, damp weather of a Washington winter. Eventually, to a huge sigh of relief, it is all dried, boxed up and stored away and we can actually see our grass, mow our lawn, and start tending to the bushes and flowers in the garden.
Come September, with everything dry and all the vegetation laden with fruit, leaves and new growth, we see the first signs of autumn and start to think that, perhaps, we should do it all over again. In turn that leads to starting to pull boxes out of storage and the work of transforming the inside of the house begins. When we reach Veterans Day, my traditional activity of raking leaves, mowing the grass and trimming the bushes officially kicks off the outdoor process. If I don't do that now, I won't be able to do it until March/April when everything is dried and put away. As the weekends progress toward Thanksgiving, the lights will appear on the roof and some of the larger features such as the Nativity and the Railway will appear in the front garden. Thanksgiving weekend, weather permitting, then is completely spent in the garden, building features, stringing lights, pulling miles of extension cords, figuring out what needs repairing, and trying out new ideas to see if they work. If all goes well and the weather isn't actually impossible, then on the Sunday after Thanksgiving you will see the "light show" even though there are probably still many finishing touches yet to complete.
DO YOU HAVE PHOTOS OF THIS YEARS DISPLAY?
So that's what happens every year - what follows below is a look at the display for each year (scroll down to see the story and pictures for this year). Please enjoy.
WHERE ARE YOU? If you want to come and see it, we are up on Union Hill - at the end of 520 take a right (east) on Union Hill Road and continue about 3.5 miles before making a left on 220th Avenue NE. Continue for about half a mile, and then make a left on NE 84th Street and a right on 217th Avenue NE. From there you should see the lights about 100 yards in front of you.
WHEN CAN I SEE IT? Generally the lights are on nightly from 5pm to 9pm (10pm on Friday/Saturday and Christmas Eve/Christmas Day/New Years Eve). The music show will be on any time the lights are on and can be listened to in your car. You are welcome to stroll up our driveway to take a look at some of the features - but please don't park and leave your car right in front of the display so that others can still drive by and take a look. Trains will run on Friday/Saturday (weather permitting) and occasionally on other days. The display will run until New Years Day - weather permitting, I try to keep it running until Twelfth Night.
NOTE: THE WEATHER CAN PLAY HAVOC! IN RAIN OR FROST THE TRAINS WILL NOT BE RUNNING AS THEY CAN BE DAMAGED. HIGH WINDS TO THE MOST DAMAGE TO THE DISPLAY AND HAVE, AT TIMES, CAUSED US TO TURN IT OFF FOR A DAY OR TWO. APOLOGIES IF THE WEATHER KNOCKS US OUT FOR A WHILE...WE WILL BE TRYING TO GET IT BACK ASAP.
