Clever Holiday Decorating, L.A. Style

In L.A., we don't have snow or frost or icicles for the holidays. There are no pine tree forests or frozen ponds for ice skating. But there's still plenty of seasonal decor around. It just tends to have a distinctly L.A. twist.

Take this garden display, for instance. A neighbor wrapped twinkle lights around his agave plants, which right now have spectacular bloom spires rising up from their spiky bases:

Don't they look handsome?

Silhouetted against the evening sky, the 12-foot spires look especially dramatic:

Another neighbor draped her life-size cow statue (a year-round fixture in her front yard) in a blanket of twinkle lights, and added a big red bow around her neck. And check it out--the cow is wearing leggings--polka-dot leggings!:

Holiday decorations pop up in unexpected places. Yesterday I hiked the local canyon with Pao, and I noticed a single Christmas ornament hanging in the branches of a bare bush:

The ornament was hand-painted with "Jim 2011" on it. I have no idea what the story is, but I loved the whimsy of  finding a single ornament where it's least expected:

And stopping to snap a picture of the ornament, I also got to fully enjoy the view:

The very best kind of holiday decorating, courtesy of Mother Nature. Happy Holidays, my friends!