Yes, HOAs are horrid, horrid things and I completely despise them. We're stuck in a community with one, because it was best for the kids, but we're outta here as soon as reasonable.
I'm a huge Christmas junkie. I've posted it before, at it's peak our outdoor display had around 25-30k lights, blow ups, a dozen fake trees, PVC creations, lights that dance to music I broadcast on FM radio, etc... One year I even had a real car in the front yard. It was a sports car (well, kit car) that I painted to look like a Hotwheels car. I wrapped a bow around it and had an inflatable Santa standing next to it. That was in the pre-HOA house, of course. The inside of our house is similarly decorated...sans car.
That outdoor display takes a LONG time to put up. I'd guess something like 80 total hours. So I always started Nov 1st. In my current HOA house, I have typically started then too. My yard is smaller than in the past, but I still get a ton of lights out. I don't turn the show on until Black Friday, but I need that month to get it set. I have an entire room in my basement that's about 15'x13' filled wall to wall with Christmas stuff, plus the entire area under the basement stairs.
Sadly, this year we're going dark. It's Nov 14th and I haven't touched anything. Our kids sports schedule has swallowed up literally every weekend and I just won't have the time to get the display up. We'll still do the inside of the house, and I'm sure I'll get some lights on bushes, but no true "show" this year. I'm sad. Here are a few pictures from Xmas past. All at the new HOA house, not the old one. Since the lights dance to music, it's hard to capture them all on at once, but you get the idea....
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