Bundle up those babies, fill the thermos with hot chocolate, turn on the holiday tunes, and buckle up — it’s Christmas light hunting season.
From now until the New Year families around the region will be driving around, searching for the biggest and brightest festive light displays to enjoy.
For the second year in a row, a Cowichan woman is trying to make it easier to find the hot spots around town.
Caroline Storie runs the Facebook page “Crazy House Lights in Duncan” and www.crazyhouselights.com, the supplementary website, administered by her friend Kirstin Campbell.
“We just started this last year. It was such fun. People seemed to really enjoy what we were doing, so we wanted to do it again this year,” Storie said.
“We are always looking for recommendations of the best lights in town that are worthy of the Crazy House Lights tour.”
The visual of a friend and her kids out hunting for lights has stuck with her over the years but she made the decision to create a web page after one particular blustery night last year when she was out walking her dog down what she says was a typical grey street.
“As I turned the corner I was blown away by one small home completely covered in lights. It immediately brightened my mood. I couldn’t believe the work that had gone into this,” she related. “I am from the UK and am not used to this level of decoration. I started the page that night.”
As it turned out, the street she’d found herself walking on is pretty well known for its lights.
She wanted to share her new find with those who didn’t already know about it.
Since then, her page has received more than 850 “Likes” and will no doubt grow as addresses are posted for this holiday season.
The page and corresponding map will be updated as recommendations are made.
“We just hope that everyone enjoys the site, and would like to say a big thank you to all those people out there who spend so much time and energy decorating their homes for us all to enjoy,” Storie said.