trip the light fantastic

Several neighbors have advanced the season for decorating their yards. This year, I'm seeing a lot more Halloween decor -- orange pumpkin lights, cardboard cutouts of arching black cats, a big blow-up arch that says "Trick-or-treaters beware", another blowup and internally lit vampire, little country-esque signs that say "Trick or treat," and so on.

Kitty-corner from me, there's a young Indian couple. They've never shown the slightest interest in American holidays. This year, I noticed lights in their yard and thought ho-hum, more Halloween stuff. But on closer inspection, I see that there's a net of white lights covering their front door, their bushes are covered with colored lights, few if any of which are orange, and there are several red-and-white striped candy-cane lights planted firmly in the yard.

Yes, these two get the Mockingbird Lane prize for starting the Christmas season early. Of course, it'll be interesting to see how late they extend the season -- will those lights still be up at the end of January?

Update from 11/2: A friend reminds me that it's Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. Still, the huge candy cane lights threw me off.