I n the lead-up to Christmas, Houstonians, like migrating flocks of birds, perform a familiar ritual.
Cars idle along River Oaks Boulevard nightly, their windows rolled down and their passengers ooh-ing and ahh-ing as they breathe in the gasoline fumes and pull out their phone cameras to capture the brightly lit mansions with their manicured hedges.
Yes, the River Oaks Christmas lights, with their professionally installed perfection, can be beautiful, I suppose, but in a way that’s been designed to be beautiful. It’s holiday cheer made to be admired from behind a windshield and captured for social media…