Thanks Muffy,
I honestly don't know why we've never had association problems. Every year my son and I (his school work and my business travel allowing) start work in mid to late Sep. So Cal is usually pretty warm in Sep and much of the neighborhood walks outside with their kids and or dogs. Our work usually instigates more kid/parent walks. We frequently take a break or at least have a working conversation with passersby.
Now So Cal is not known for its great neighborhood camaraderie. Certainly there are exceptions, but I've known folks who have lived in their homes for 20 years and have no idea who their neighbor is two houses away. To be honest, I'm not that different from them ... except in the fall. Because of the display, I know Mothers, Fathers, kids and dogs from areas and neighborhoods from all around our house. Parents tell me their kids pester them to drive or walk by almost daily "... to see how the haunted house is going."
After the frame work is up and the possibility of falling 2x4s is eliminated, we welcome, even encourage the parents with little ones to let us show them all the gadgets and displays DURING THE DAY. My son is really good with the kids too. We tell them it's just plastic wood batteries and speakers and they can deal with it better at night that way.
If I had to guess why we can start in Sep and take it down a week AFTER H'ween, I'd say there must be three reasons:
1. Our house has taken on a sort of "celebrity status" over the years. We Californians tend to love Celebrities - sometimes way toooo much. But it helps us.
2. Our community has lots and lots of little kids and the large majority of them are drawn to the display. The parents like to see their kids in awe and excited, so I guess we have no complaining parents.
3. To the best of my knowledge, the association neighborhood inspectors are still people who live in the neighborhoods. I have no idea who ours is but I'm betting that he or she has kids.
Oh, maybe one last issue that fits in with the kids ... my son and wife have always protested stringently when I wanted to add significant amounts of blood and gore to our display. They don't want our home to be the cause of bloody, gory nightmares in the little kids. If you look closely at our display, you'll see lots of my restraint. I REALLY wanted that body in a bloody clear plastic bag hanging by its feet and wiggling, but I was out voted. So I hope we're not too wholesome, while still getting lots of screams from visitors.
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