JohnH wrote:


Chuck, have you given any thought to putting a sign on your boat saying,

"These are NOT Christmas lights!"

That would prevent any confusion.

That would be silly for a couple of reasons.

First, there's no such thing as a "Christmas light" . My lights are red
and green, like holly.
Holly is a spiritually significant plant in a lot of religious
traditions and is even seen in Christian churches, along with venerated
evergreen trees in some instances. (Red is the color of animal life,
green is the color of plant life, and holly blooms at winter solstice).

Second, if the same people who believe that venerated evergreens, an
elf named Santa Claus, flying reindeer, and animated snowmen are an
inseparable part of a Christian religious holiday see the lights on my
boat and want to consider them "Christmas lights", then it's no skin
off my nose and they can go right on ahead and call them anything they
choose.

The Special People's cruise is next Sunday, and if having some lights
on the boat makes the day a bit more memorable for my developmentally
disadvantaged passengers, then the lights are serving their intended
purpose. If somebody watching our parade from on shore thinks a warm
and happy thought for a moment as the lighted boats go by, then they
have served a secondary purpose.

And besides; I celebrate a very old tradition this time of the year and
it *includes* Christmas.
I am not "anti-Christmas". I assume that most open minded people
realize that several major faiths celebrate something at solstice time,
and are not offended when people don't automatically give one of the
holidays exclusive rights to the entire month of December. :-)

Nope, no sign needed. Anybody can call my holiday lights anything they
want to. I'll even be wearing a red and white "Santa" hat for the
event. My shuttle pipes arrived today, so I hope to bone up on a few
tunes about sleigh rides, flying reindeer, and dancing snowmen before
next Sunday. You ain't heard a "Christmas" tune until you've heard one
played on a bagpipe. I'll literally have a "captive" audience, unless
somebody wants to go for a swim.