just a little too "merry" for my liking.

i'm a big Christmas fan in general. i love when chestnuts are roasting on an open fire and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. but there is a major branch of Christmas commercialism that i strongly feel should be obliterated from the face of the earth.

inflatable lawn ornaments.

you spot it from afar....large and looming in the cul-de-sac...instead of offering welcome, it stands like a holiday sentinel guarding the house...quite frankly, i'm not convinced they don't have lasers in their balloonie eyes pointed directly at heckling passers-by...

the people who posted this picture described it as "our tasteless christmas lawn ornament." and they were right. the only thing that is more tastless is when it's filled with blow-up steelers players and superbowl confetti (see my neighbor down the street).

reasons i hate inflatable Christmas lawn ornaments:

1. they dwarf and probably consume small children (see above picture).

2. sometimes they come in the shape of various, nefarious characters that cause me physical pain (i.e. scooby doo, snoopy, or any character from winnie the pooh--particularly tigger coming out of the chimney)

3. now they have those new globe ornaments that move and twinkle and are obviously major contributors in the energy crisis...(again, the steelers one with the confetti)...

4. there is almost nothing more pathetic than a deflated inflatable lawn ornament, save the plastic santa and sleigh with reindeer toppled and dangling from the roof...

5. they automatically make me think less of the undoubtedly decent, warm-hearted people who live there, and that's just not fair.

actually, i'm rather shocked that my family doesn't participate in this hideous yard display...afterall, we do have every star trek and harley davidson ornament on our plastic christmas tree....to my horror, i did hear mom mention that she wanted to get the inflatable santa-on-a-motorcycle for next year.... one can only hope that i'll be living in another country or fall victim to spontaneous blindness by then.