Inflatables dominate Alameda holiday decorations
It was a tough week for this roving reporter. So many folks wrote in with addresses for yards with holiday decorations that I could not get to all of them in time for this report. I counted 60+ yards visited so far, and that doesn’t even include Christmas Tree Lane. Please continue to send in addresses for me to check out.
With so many pictures, my publisher thought it would be better to put them all into a short video to share. He even added the Darlene Love version of Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland which includes Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes singing her famous “Oh-Ohs.”
Strings of lights seem to be the most popular way of adorning one’s abode for the holiday, which seems a bit risky depending on where one strings them. One of my neighbors had to use two ladders to cover all the branches of the big tree in his front yard. I had to remind him that the top part of the ladder was NOT A STEP. Another house placed a single electric “candle” in each window of their house. Simple, yet still very classy.
I have heard some folks complaining about the use of inflatables, but I have nothing against using them to decorate a yard. It really makes a lot of sense when you consider the wide variety of characters now available, the ease of installation, and the small space required to store them the other eleven months of the year.
Depending on the number of inflatables available and the creativity of the installer, one can create quite the festive holiday scene—like the one at 1410 Santa Clara Ave.
While inflatables dominate the Alameda holiday scene, I did manage to find a DIY Santa sleigh with Rudolph, complete with presents, and a real lighted nose for the most famous reindeer of all. And, while not exactly on par with the sleigh, the Styrofoam packing material snowman with a prescription bottle nose and tops as buttons gets my creativity award.
Wednesday was hecka cold for the morning walk. I noticed frost on a lot of the cars and on the leaves of a bright red Poinsettia. Hope it can survive this cold.
By now the street trees have lost most, if not all, of their canopy and the beautiful yellow, orange, and red leaves are now brown and dried. However, there are several winter bloomers providing some much-needed color against the gray skies. The magnolia blossoms are just beginning to bud and will soon flower. I happened to find one of the early bloomers for you.
To close out this week’s report, I want to let people know that our friends over at the Friends of the Animal Shelter (FAAS) finally got a new washer/dryer stack to replace the set that went down several weeks ago. Harry Toigo, the facilities guy for FAAS, sent me a picture of the new units in place getting checked out.
I want to thank the wonderful community members that helped by picking up bags of wet towels and toys, washing and drying, folding, and then delivering them back to FAAS. For a few dedicated folks like my human companion (HC) it was “wash, rinse, and repeat” for almost two weeks. I am surprised his washing machine was able to stand the strain. I think he has done more loads of laundry these past two weeks then he had in the past two years.
This week, I will be visiting more yards and, of course, taking a walk or two along Christmas Tree Lane (Thompson Avenue) to check out the scene.
Hope everybody is surviving the season.
Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda
Mouf and his human companion can be reached via [email protected]. Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/. All photos and videos by Jeff Cambra.
