James and I have never been inclined to decorate our yard at Christmas. For some reason, we are just not those people. Even putting lights on the house took a while to happen. The closest we came – and I can attest it wasn’t that close – was a few years ago when we were looking for a new tree. As we were standing in line, I looked up, and there on the shelf was an inflatable T-Rex with a present in its mouth and a Santa hat on its head. How could we possibly pass that up?
We passed it up.
However, walking around our neighborhood, you can’t miss the wide range of inflatable Christmas decorations. The neighbor up the street with the polar bear and penguins. The house one street over with Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, and for good measure, Olaf from Frozen. Not sure how that works into the mix, but they’ve also had a very large Christmas Mickey Mouse in past years. Clearly a mix of genres is not out of order.
The biggest surprise, though, was from the owner two streets over. Every holiday, we can be assured his yard is festive. Easter. Thanksgiving. Fourth of July. He would probably say that the decoration is really for his young daughter. However, I suspect he enjoys it just as much, and this year he went all in. Walking down the street, we couldn’t avoid seeing the 15-foot inflatable Christmas tree with the smaller inflatable figures at the bottom, the Christmas tree in the yard, and the one on the front porch.
But no matter what we’ve seen in our neighborhood this year or year’s past, nothing can beat the yard I passed on the way home from work. The kind of yard where you aren’t sure you saw what you did, so you have to check on the way to work the next day. Because who would do that?
Inflatable Frosty in the back of an inflatable pick-up truck. A very cute inflatable manger scene. And for good measure? A six-foot inflatable Buc-ee’s Beaver. Because nothing quite says Christmas (or any other holiday) like a giant cartoon beaver. Suddenly, seeing Olaf with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph didn’t feel like such a big leap.
My friend and podcast co-host Matthew was quick to point out that a Buc-ee’s Beaver in your front yard is a sure sign you’re in Texas, with which I am hard pressed to disagree. If you’ve ever been in a Buc-ee’s, you can get almost anything, including beaver nuggets. One friend ventured in with a girlfriend and found a Buc-ee’s two-piece bikini, which they just had to buy. She wore the top. He wore the bottom. (And no, I will not be posting a picture of that.) That you could get an inflatable beaver for Christmas isn’t a big leap.
However, that particular owner is not alone in his taste for yard art. James was driving through the neighborhood behind the grocery store and passed another house with a beaver. Is this going to become a phenomenon? Are we going to start seeing them everywhere, and not just at Christmas? Do I need to be concerned?
Except maybe that will give me a little ammunition the next time we are out shopping for decorations. Its not like I’m asking to put Buc-ee’s in the front yard. Just a cute little something that the dogs will probably spend the day and night barking at.
Which means I’m probably never getting my T Rex.
