WC Entry: Alexandria, VA

I returned from my Woodbine Challenge scouting trip to Maine with trepidation, unsure whether I would find any comparable specimens of holiday decorating goodness.  Tonight's trip to the grocery store inspired a quick driving tour of a nearby neighborhood.  I believe that it uncovered worthy contenders for the title of Woodbine Challenge Champion 2012.  Some "gems in the rough," if you will.

Has the phrase "less is more" ever rang less true?

This photo certainly captures how underwhelming these holiday lights are.  Rather than taking the dramatic ridgeline-string-o-lights route, capitalizing on the large front window, or transforming the large front lawn into a winter wonderland, these holiday decorators opted for one string of lights wrapped around the railing by the front door.  It may even be a bit difficult to see in this photo, so don't get distracted by the lights on the neighbor's house.  Just look really closely, squint, and maybe you'll be able to catch a bit of the glow.  But really, the lights themselves were dim (it isn't just my distance from the house or the light), as if these tired old lights need to be retired to the Christmas Tree in the Sky.

Dubbed "Santa We Have Heard on High"

 That's right.  They've stuck a plastic, light-up Santa on a pole in their front yard.  Which begs the questions: where did this pole come from?  Do they store it in their backyard all year long so that their Santa can be a lone, shining beacon of Christmas cheer for the whole neighborhood?  If one can got to the trouble of getting Santa atop his pole and finding a super long extension cord, how is it that they can't do more?   (Disclaimer: as a drove away I saw that there is a second figure of a snowman at the base of the pole.)  There may be some crazy genius in making one sweeping dramatic gesture - any addition might just lessen its impact.