You don’t have to overdo it

Last weekend I had the pleasure, the delight, the excitement of seeing the parade along Snowflake Lane in Bellevue, WA.

The street is beautifully decorated.

snowflake lane 3

There is a fifteen-minute parade, which included Santa that night, and was followed by a tree lighting.

snowflake lane 1

Adding to the festive atmosphere is live Christmas music on the street corners, and…

it magically starts to snow.

Snowflake-Lane-2

Beautiful.

Now, I certainly don’t want to downplay the effort that went into this. Hundreds of people worked to make this happen. The floats, costumes, and decorations cost a lot of bucks… not to mention a snow machine.

But here’s my point:

Hundreds of people came out to see this, and were delighted. (Well, it wasn’t raining, which helps a lot. And the temperature was reasonable.)  Yes, the two-hour+ Macy’s parade is fabulous. But a 15-minute parade is lovely, charming, and for most kids (and a lot of adults,) enough.

When you are creating your own holiday extravaganzas, remember this.  More isn’t always better; sometimes it just wears out the host and the guests. People are very happy with a reasonable amount. When tv commercials, HGTV shows, and home & decorating magazines are urging you to go over-the-top, take a deep breath, and say “enough.”

 

This entry was posted in Lighten Up in 2013 and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.
Back to Top