I think it was the third or fourth year Obama was president, Jason and I went for a walk a few days before Christmas to see the lights.

We saw token lights from the bigger houses, rarely, but the two and three-bedroom houses in the neighborhood where dark – desperately dark.  On occasion, lights peeped at us from an indoor tree but they where neither jolly or bright.

Fears of the recession had set in.

I don’t think that it was fully realized, but was felt.

Jobs were going overseas with a governmental guarantee that they would never return.  Household income dropped.    Medical coverage was, at best, shaky.  Bailout money was thrown at banks and car companies in an effort to ‘stabilize’ the economy.    Rather, it was a thinly disguised attempt by the government to get their hooks into big business.

It was a societal scary time.

Without Christmas lights, the neighborhood was like a residential war zone.    Lights out to avoid bombing.

There was no cheer or unspoken contests between neighbors.

Nothing.

Fast forward to today.

The neighbor’s lights from across the street are so glaring that we don’t need to turn on the living room light.  Tacky blow-up Santas wiggle on practically every street corner.  Snowmen smile sheepishly holding up signs that say “let it snow,” despite that a snowflake hasn’t been seen this far south for over fifty years.

There may be a war on saying “Merry Christmas,” but certainly not on tacky and greatly missed Christmas decorations.

I suppose that’s why I’m not worried about global warming…. or climate crisis?   Whatever the sensationalistic term is…    People from all walks of life are comfortable with mass consumption of energy for a fairly disputed holiday.

Confidence abounds, even if they don’t know it.

Quite unlike Obama Christmases.