When I was living in Brooklyn, our next door neighbors would have huge inflatable decorations outside their building for a month preceding every major holiday. So, at the end of the year, they'd have a huge inflatable green witch for October, a giant inflatable turkey for November, and an inflatable Santa for Christmas (although this was sometimes interchanged with a Snowman some years. I lived there for six years, so I saw quite a lot of these).
Our neighbors up north in Montreal haven't adopted Christmas inflatables, but there's no doubt that the city is lit up for the holidays. Let's take a look at some Quebecois traditions.
Some people deck out their iconic stairs in Christmas lights.
Our neighborhood balcony Santa has made a return this year, keeping on eye on who's being naughty or nice on Rue Ontario (and checking for impostors!).
The bûche de Noël, or Christmas log, is a Christmas tradition that comes from France. Traditionally, families would burn a log in their home from Christmas to New Year's Day or the day of Epiphany (January 6). This tradition comes from an even older pagan tradition where logs would be thrown in the ancient fire-festival during the winter solstice.
Here are a few more bûches de Noël. These are more suitable for the size of our family.
Walking around our neighborhood, you can see a few crèches de Noël. These are Nativity scenes that people leave on their lawns, and is another tradition from France.
Wishing you happy holidays, from our home to yours!
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