Wherefore the pride of District 4?
My open letter to East Pasadena, at least those in the Hastings Ranch area:
Your galaxy of lights, constellations of incandescent color illuminated my earliest holidays. What happened? Forged from the marketplace of neighborhood competition, the once-inventive displays and original exhibitions have been either discarded or replaced with identical, store-bought pablum. I lost count of the identical, inflatable fixtures festooning the fronts of your homes.
Seriously, I don't know if homeowner turnover or aging is a factor in the darkening of Pasadena's Nor'easter climes, but the whole thing is looking shabby, apart from a few proud hold-outs.
Too many Frosty the Wal-Mart Doppelganger clones, so few ass-kicking displays of American holiday independence. Don't let your next Christmas be an inflatable one.
I went to Don Benito school as a child and the happiest memories I had were those of driving around with my parents at night looking at the houses. It used to be so crowded that you couldn't go more than a few feet.
Over the years the lights have diminished as well as the creativity. I was really surprised this year that I could drive through the whole neighborhood in about 10 minutes because there was no traffic.
I guess the original lights are a thing of the past. Oh well - there is always Balians.
We hit up the Balian mansion afterward. Always kind of quirky and with political undertones. There were also two cars selling merchandise there, I should have asked to see their business licenses.
Yes - I think that it is bizarre that there are several trucks with the flashing santa hat's and the other light up stuff.
It sort of takes away from the whole scene.
I just like driving around Pasadena/Altadena and looking at my old "favorites" where people decorate year after year. That brings back good memories.
Next year we're going to od a bb gun drive by and deflate every walmart christmas balloon we see!