It might be Christmas Eve outside, but it sure doesn’t look like it. While last year at this time we had a decent amount of snow, right now we’ve got nothing. At least it was snowing a little bit when we left the house this afternoon.

While I don’t like the cold much, I realize that if you’re going to live in Canada, you will have some cold weather in the winter. If we are going to get cold weather, though, I want to see snow. Otherwise it just looks grey and dismal like in the photo above. Just look at the same neighbourhood about a year ago:

Isn’t that better? Still, at this time of year you don’t have to rely solely on the weather to provide a seasonal touch. When we got to Canadian Tire there were decorations all over including this batch of inflatable lawn decorations.

With the glasses, the Santa mannequin makes me think of Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top – who, coincidentally, collaborated with Star Trek’s William Shatner to release a version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Not all of it is tacky like that, though. I quite like the display down in Yorkville (a really fancy neighbourhood in Toronto where you’ll find Holt Renfrew, Whole Foods, and a Ferrari dealership.)

For all of this, we don’t really celebrate Christmas and never have as a family. We aren’t Christian (or any religion), and never pretended Santa existed. (It would have felt weird to lie to our kid for a decade or so while simultaneously telling him to never lie.) I still love the lights and decorations, though. And for the past several years now I’ve been joining a number of other friends who also don’t celebrate Christmas at a restaurant downtown for a late breakfast together. It feels like getting together with family – some whom you see a lot, and others who you might only see at Christmas time – or only once in your life. It’s a lovely way to end the year.

Do you celebrate Christmas or another holiday at this time of year? Do you do anything special? And how about winter? Does it get cold where you are and do you enjoy it?

Inspired by Lens Artists Photo Challenge #24.