Rules: a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere. Football rules, classroom rules, family rules. They are not laws, which bring legal consequences if broken. Still, we learn to live by the rules established by our culture, our generation, our family, and we can suffer social consequences when we break the rules. No doubt, cultural anthropologists study rules within various cultures; how they differ, how they are the same. Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) said, when breaking rules, that they are really just “guidelines.” anyway. I always liked that.

Every culture has rules that guide daily behavior, and the rules that tickled my funny bone up here are the ones that govern holiday decorations. I  learned about these rules during Christmas. By  late December my Christmas decorations were packed up and stowed away until next year. During a coffee gathering I mentioned casually that I was relieved to have an orderly house again. Oh no!!!! I learned  that we don’t put away religious stuff until after Epiphany (a week into January). “What about the other, non-religious Christmas stuff.” The resounding consensus: “Snowmen can stay up all winter, but usually go back into storage around Lent”. I ask, “Why snowmen?” I am informed that snowmen are actually all-winter decorations and are appropriate during the entire snowy season. Sure enough, as I drove around doing errands the next week I saw that some houses and businesses still had snowmen decorations outside.

This week, during another coffee session, I learned the rules about Valentines Day decor. I noticed that the hostess still had Valentine stuff on her windows and around the house, and I asked about it. “Oh, Valentine stuff can stay up all during the month of February,” she said.

Now, I am on the alert. What are the Easter rules? It comes so early this year, decor could overlap with snowman season. Then what? Snowmen and Easter bunnies on the front lawn? No-never, impossible. I am willing to bet that the snowmen disappear when the bunnies come out. Likewise, Easter Eggs will be hidden in the park, maybe in the snowdrifts.

I have a good “window” to the timing of Easter decorations since several neighbors decorate profusely for each holiday. This year I will watch carefully what goes up first, which comes down last. I am sure we have rules around bunnies and tulips too. I don’t know that I will follow the rules, but I will enjoy learning about them and the unique people who live here.

In large cities with diverse populations, decor rules are not so universal.  In a small town, they are part of the cultural fabric. Everyone “gets the memo” about when to decorate and when to start wearing red for Christmas and everyone follows the rules. In the unlikely event that something changes, everyone would know within  30 minutes. Word travels on the wind here.