It is the season to put up Christmas lights on your home.  If you don’t want to do that,   then go see someone else who bothered to take the time to put lights on their home. It is the one time of the year where people want you to notice where they live and let you stare at their home for a while. In Dyker Heights, Brooklyn New York, people get serious about their holiday decorations. The people in this town spend thousands of dollars on decorations and plan for months because they are competitive and are into the holiday   spirit. Americans   love going out of their way at Christmastime. You can visit YouTube and see some of the displays set to Christmas songs.

If you can’t find a over the top house in your neighborhood to look at,  go to YouTube wearing your ugliest Christmas sweater and sip some eggnog while watching some videos.  There is a Taylor Swift   house  that is constantly blinking to her beat.  This year there are houses lit up to the Frozen track of songs that you wish would just let it go after a while. Or if you are an  80’s rocker you can head blink to Manheim Steamroller. This year alone consumers are expected to spend more than$6 Billion dollars on Christmas decorations and that is not including the electric bill. It is a way for people to express themselves and win. You can only spread that kind of message in your home and get away with it. But to find the real traditional fanatics with the vintage just light up figures, go to Brooklyn. You won’t get a headache from the flashing lights. Those lights stay on all night.

No one outdoes Lucy Spota in Brooklyn who began putting up plastic lit up  angels in1980 after her mother died. She is still adding to her collection until every inch of her property is covered in something festive.  The neighborhood is fairly wealthy so I am sure they will not be complaining about their electric bills. Tony Muia , is the founder of A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours that will take you to a number of extremely well lit homes in the area and tell you a little bit of personal history about the homes that motivated the owners to give is the holiday gift of a magical setting on their front lawn. He says, Rockefeller Center! Forget about it. Come to Brooklyn!

These places are living bright proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Monday night starts a new reality show called The Great  Christmas Light Fight which is a combination of Extreme Home Makeovers with a Christmas edition. There   are two   dozen families on this show competing for a $50,000 dollar prize. Michael Moloney is the host of the show.  It should be interesting to see how much work it takes to transform ordinary into extra-ordinary homes.   Sam Bilas has one of the largest homes in Brooklyn and he has transformed his home into a marvelous sight. He has over 300,000 lights on the home. Robert DeLauro’s home used to cost $1,000 a month in electric bills but since he switched to LED lights, he pays about $250 a month in bills. He still has the vintage decorations his dad made a generation ago.

Lucy Spota has an unusual request in her Last Will & Testament. Her wish is that no one will inherit the property unless they agree to decorate it for Christmas. Happy and Bright Holiday Everyone!