We needed this: Austin puts up Christmas lights early in 2020 – austin360

Its not even Thanksgiving yet, but its beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Austin. With temperatures in the 80s and the calendar barely halfway through November, some Austinites might have noted a very merry trend: an uptick in early holiday decorations.

Call it a coping mechanism, a nostalgic yearning for carefree childhood or a rush to show 2020 the door, but something is jolly in the capital of Texas. Calendar-checking Grinches who dictate that holiday decor shouldnt be displayed until after Thanksgiving will call it a fa-la-la faux pas. But not everyone buys into that thinking.

"Its total B.S. Decorate whenever you want," said Maddy Braat, a participant in Austins fabled 37th Street neighborhood light display.

While 37th Street residents have canceled this years display to protect the neighborhood's immunocompromised and elder residents from thousands of shoulder-to-shoulder revelers "Stay at your home, not ours," a digital flyer reads if there were an authority on the dos and donts of Austin holiday decor decorum, Braat and her neighbors might be it. Barring a few years in the mid-2000s, their weird, kaleidoscopic, DIY decoration extravaganzas have been a source of light and delight for Austinites going back to at least the 1980s.

Braat and neighbor Robert Foster are part of the core group responsible for 37th Street decoration planning these days, which can begin as early as August. Like Braat, Foster shrugs off antiquated rules about when its appropriate to do something that makes you happy.

"Its very literally some light at the darkest time of the year," Foster said. "It brings a little joy to the city when the suns going down at 6 p.m."

Silent night on election night

After anxiously poring over live election results as the polls closed on Nov. 3, Rebecca Rogers decided she had had enough. She took a break from the 24/7 news cycle and broke out the tree.

"I turned off the news, turned on Christmas Vacation, and we put up our tree. I wanted to change the vibe, and it was the best," Rogers said. "Theres something to be said for anything that can bring any sort of joy and goodwill. Were all kind of clinging to that. Every layer of life feels a little uncertain right now."

As for running afoul of those unwritten holiday decor rules, Rogers showed some Yuletide self-control. "We restrained ourselves to one tree for now," she said with a laugh, noting that a few other trees would be up before the turkey hits the table later in the month.

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Rogers isnt alone in her embrace of holiday light lawlessness. Around East Austin, some homes had lights on display as early as March and July. She hopes others will continue to step up their holiday decorating game this season, as they did over Halloween. With two young children, its not just something to do; its a break from the monotony of pandemic life.

"We spent the last month walking around looking at all the spiderwebs and Halloween decorations, because there were so many this year," she said. "We live for it. Its hard to drop into the Trail of Lights and Mozarts, so Im so happy our neighborhood can fill in that space."

Quarantined at home for Christmas

When Cristy Holmes husband was forced to quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, she decided early November was a perfect time to deck the halls at her home in the Wooten neighborhood.

"I needed something to do with the kids. There was this sudden feeling that we couldnt go anywhere for 14 days, so lets just put up the tree," she said. "Our house is pretty minimalist besides kids toys everywhere but now everything is so pretty and happy."

Holmes and her two young children filled a weekend decorating the tree, baking holiday goodies and listening to Christmas music. Since then, her kids have moved on to making presents and cards and watching holiday movies.

"Youre trying to find any bit of joy you can right now and make it as big as possible especially for the kids," Holmes said. "We cant do all the traditional things we might normally do. Were not having a big Christmas. We arent going on vacation. But the things we can do, were just trying to make super fun."

As word got out that Holmes had put the familys tree up, friends and parents at her daughters school began to reach out, seemingly waiting to see if they could get the go-ahead to take the plunge themselves.

"Because of coronavirus, people are just going for it. And why the heck not? I have friends who say it messes with Thanksgiving, but we have turkeys out next to our Christmas tree," she said. "I dont feel like were taking away from Thanksgiving; were just adding to the season."

Skeletons, candy canes and Lisa Frank

Ginger Snaps is a burlesque and aerial performer who lives in Windsor Park with her boyfriend, dogs and a skeleton named Steve. (Steve is a year-round bit of yard decor who currently is in the backyard dressed as a lifeguard for the hot tub. "He cant really blow the whistle, but hes got one," she said.)

Needless to say, she is no stranger to decorating, but she typically holds until after Thanksgiving to do her holiday decorating. But when everything is out the window quite literally when many are only experiencing social interaction outside so go these rules.

"None of these are actual steadfast rules. Decorate once Halloween is done. Its fair game," she said. "I came close to leaving some skeletons up and decorating them. But then I was afraid some small children might think it was a dead Santa or something."

As her business has been slow due to the pandemics effect on live entertainment, Ginger Snaps said she decided to decorate early both as a creative outlet and a way to give a bit of joy back to the community.

Her approach to decorating is big, bold, and colorful. "I grew up in the 90s and am a product of the Lisa Frank generation, so I come from the school of more color is better. I try to get in as much color as possible," she said.

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Around her neighborhood, Ginger Snaps reported seeing more Halloween decorations than usual, but she hasnt noticed more holiday decor just yet.

"Im waiting to see if I'm going to be so obnoxious that my neighbors will dislike me, or (if) I will encourage them," she said. "Its a great way to interject a little fun into every day. Its cheerful to look out your window. And I know the neighborhood kids really love it. Over Halloween, I would find free-range children in the yard playing with skeletons. Now I made a fence with candy canes, just to keep them from tripping on the cords."

While the experience for many over the past year has been especially isolating, she said small things like decorations have brought the block together.

"I feel more connected with the community here now. Everyone is more talkative," she said. "I tend to be shy around people I dont know, but we see the same people stopping by and we start talking."

Yule rules out the window

In some neighborhoods, as the gap between holiday decorations has gone the way of Frosty the Snowman on a sunny day, its not uncommon to spy some Halloween decorations on display next to wintertime standards. In Hyde Park, hairstylist and interior decorator Ryan Van Horn-Zakotnik said hes seen a front yard with zombies lingering next to sparkly holiday lights dangling from eaves.

Like many, Van Horn-Zakotnik has long stuck to the traditional "decorations go up after Thanksgiving" rule, but he decided to put up decorations two weeks earlier this year and is expanding his decor repertoire to include some menorahs.

"I say do it if it makes you happy," he said. "We have COVID fatigue, and were bored. We all need a little extra sparkle."

Van Horn-Zakotnik has already made multiple runs to stockpile garlands and other decor, but theres one holiday line hes not willing to cross just yet. "I havent started Christmas music yet," he said. "I put my foot down there."

A feel-good expenditure

Its not just Austin homes that are getting in on the act earlier than ever. The Austin Trail of Lights has expanded its run, starting almost two weeks earlier than normal this year its a drive-thru and opens on Nov. 27. Meanwhile, Mozarts Coffee Roasters long-running Lake Austin light-and-sound show began on Nov. 11.

But these arent the only operations seeing an earlier-than-usual spike in holiday spirit. Craig Robinson owns Can You Hang, a decoration installation company that serves Central Austin and the area toward Lakeway. He received his first call of the year on Oct. 3, and his phone hasnt stopped ringing since.

"Were seeing probably double the call volume we were seeing at this time last year," he said. "People arent going to Cancun for Christmas; theyre staying home, and they really want to do it up."

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Robinson said the increased drive to decorate in tough times doesnt come as too much of a surprise, given what hes seen in his 16 years in business. During the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, he prepared himself for business to dry up, only to see it flourish and grow year over year.

"Its a feel-good expenditure," he said. "People are looking to create some joy in the muck for something positive to end the year. I think everyone is over 2020."

Cheer is contagious, and it sure beats yard signs

For 2021, Foster and Braat hope to bring the 37th Street lights back and bigger than ever. In the meantime, theyre serving as ambassadors and advisers on Austin-style holiday decorating. Theyre encouraging other streets to rise up and create their own hyper-local bubbles of holiday decoration and go bigger and weirder than before.

Besides the spectacle of pretty shiny things that are pleasant to look at, Foster believes coming together around something as simple as decorating can have a massive impact on the atmosphere of a neighborhood.

37th Street "is one of those streets where you can just walk into a neighbors house and grab a cup of sugar. You get to know your neighbors well," he said. "Its very Mister Rogers Neighborhood-feeling at times."

For others looking to take up the merrymaking mantle, Foster said 37th Streets approach involves gauging interest via flyers and organizing a meeting for all interested residents both of which can be done without having to meet face to face. They then figure out how homes might work together on larger, lot-spanning elements and share tools like ladders, jigsaws and multimeters to make it easier for neighbors to execute plans without spending a fortune at the hardware store.

Most who are in on the early decorating game agree theres a social pressure around decorating whether its keeping the lights in the attic until after Thanksgiving Day or the domino effect created when one house decorates. Holiday cheer (at least the type expressed through outward displays) is contagious, it seems.

Robinson said social pressure actually drives much of Can You Hangs decoration installation business. "People think, I dont want to look like a Scrooge if everyone else is doing it," he said.

Ginger Snaps said shes noticed how one house going all out can create a playful competition that leads to more lights. "Its like this silent battle," she said. "We just finished the silent battle of political signs, so I feel like we can roll it over to a silent battle of lights."

Living room escapism

Whether youre bah humbug-ing these harbingers of the holiday season or welcoming them with wide eyes, if nothing else, it gives us a topic for a good-spirited, low-stakes debate the sort of discussion about as weighty as whether we should brush our teeth before or after breakfast. (After, you monsters.)

But whatever side you fall on, Election Day tree-putter-upper Rogers makes a compelling case against wagging fingers at those who jump the gun on the holidays this year.

"We shouldnt be shaming anyone for decorating or turning on Christmas music in October especially this year. Were tired. Its been a slog, and I think I kind of hate my house the more I sit in it," Rogers said. "Celebrate how you want to celebrate and when you want to celebrate. Zero regrets. Just do it. It was a total game-changer for our brains a little escapism in the living room."

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We needed this: Austin puts up Christmas lights early in 2020 - austin360