glowTO: The Borges Family says Feliz Natal

If there's one thing Toronto has plenty of -- besides potholes -- it's festive spirit. You see it in our love for Zanta, in our determination to face the horrifying bottom floor of the Eaton Centre in the search for the 'perfect gift', and most of all, you see it on our homes.

It's absolutely incredible to see what lengths people in this town will go to in decorating their house (and/or apartment balcony) with glowing lights.

To honour those festive fantatics of Toronto who truly go nuts with their LED strings, I'll be featuring their masterpieces in this "glowTO" series for the rest of the month.

First up, the Borges family and their big lawn, on Caledonia, a block or so north of St. Clair West...

This Portuguese winter wonderland is truly a sight to see and their wild web of lights is only part of the magic.

The owners of this house may not have an acre of land on which to create a glowing Bethlehem/North Pole but they've worked some holiday miracles with their slightly-longer-than-average Toronto front lawn.

There you'll find a traditional nativity scene surrounded by everything from angels to elves, Santa to Frosty, and a miniature townhome and church for good measure... all of which glow.

It makes me laugh every time because it reminds me of the nativity scene my mother used to set up when I was a kid. In order to involve me fully, I was allowed to bring any McDonald's Fraggle Rock toy, plastic soldier or ceramic figurine to place around the manger.

"Everyone is welcome on such a happy day," she'd say.

Everyone on Caledonia is enjoying the view too. Locals don't even stop to wonder why traffic slows down to a crawl when nearing St. Clair. 'Tis the season, right? Mind you, there's still the occasional grinch who honks their horns in vain but it's no competition for this bright a light show.

There's more though.

Attached to the housefront are more lights, most on boards where strings have been arranged to form messages like "Feliz Natal" from the Borges family to observers.

The photo below is the full view from across the street. Note the neighbour's car on the left as it will give you a nice sense of the scale of this project.