It's been a few years since those blow-up plastic outdoor holiday decorations reached their zenith of popularity. If you live in the U.S., you know the type; at this time of year, of course, giant Santas or snowmen, lit from the inside, are commonly seen. Now, although they're falling out of favor (Did too many of them spring leaks? Were they too-tempting targets for kids with BB guns?), some people still have them.
One of the interesting things about them (if there are any) is that evidently it's recommended that they be allowed to go flat overnight. I don't know if that's to avoid having them explode, or just to save a little on the electric bill.
In any event, it creates some interesting sights on our early morning walks. Deflation is ... well, deflating! It's a downer. A few days ago, we observed a Santa flat on his face on the sidewalk in front of someone's front door. It looked as if the poor old feller had come for an early visit, and either had had a heart attack, or maybe just was stone drunk and sleeping it off.
Worse yet, though, was the tableau below. A Christmas massacre! Obviously someone had mowed down an entire family of Santa, elves, snowmen, or what-have-you.
It's interesting to speculate on who might have committed this heinous crime. Could it have been a rabidly radical Muslim, or equally zealous atheist? No, methinks, if the motivation were religious, it must have been one of those traditional Christians who resents seeing Jesus displaced by Santa Claus and snowmen. Or - perhaps most likely - it was just a person offended by the in-your-face tawdriness of these puffy seasonal figures.