Christmas IS awesome

Each year, I drop in Arlington's Interlochen neighborhood to see their holiday displays.

Interlochen is never finished. Ralph Sobel, one of the organizers, says a trend this year is more movie references. We've talked about the Star Wars house, but people have added others like Home Alone.

Another neighbor chose The Lego Movie.

Sobel explains he'd like to have adopted a Die Hard theme.

But we're so divided as a nation right now, wading into the debate over whether Die Hard is or is not a Christmas film may not have brought us together. Instead, Sobel says Interlochen celebrates all holidays.

In fact, he wore his Christmukkah shirt as he set out his Festivus pole.

And Interlochen is inclusive. When a realtor who lives in the neighborhood realized 100,000 people would be driving by, she even took the time to decorate her "for sale" sign.

Sobel says UT Arlington professors take international students of different faiths on a walking tour to help them learn American customs.

This year, they're honoring Professor Allan Saxe who passed away in June. Loyal Scaiaholics will recall I talked with Saxe when he retired, and now more than ever, I suspect we could all use more Saxe.

Interlochen is honoring Saxe this year for his support. He helped save the display by donating money to pay for police overtime during the financial crisis 15 years ago.

They're also honoring Vernon Porter who created the first Interlochen lights display in 1976.

But the display is not without conflict. Down the street, some snowmen got into a snowball fight.

And our Sisyphus Santa is still climbing that ladder.

But in the end, you can also see Santa and Rudolph celebrating the holiday season together with a stein of eggnog.