This may be the first in a series of posts on contrasting Christmas and winter holiday expressions in our Down East neighborhood.
Above, you see a fine old house decorated for the season in what we’ll call the “exuberant style”: a snowman train traveling south; Santa’s reindeer sleigh traveling northwest; massive evergreen wreaths and (I think) huge gingerbread cookies on the house, and much more. It’s a belly-laugh.
Below, you’ll see another fine old house decorated for the season in what we’ll call the “restrained style”: two big, beautiful evergreen wreaths discretely displayed at the back of a porch. It’s a contented smile:
(Images taken in Blue Hill [exuberant] and Brooklin [understated], Maine, on December 18 and 11, 2025, respectively.)