Why "Christmas on 2400 East"?

So, why am I calling my display "Christmas On 2400 East"? Well... Addresses in Utah are a little different than the rest of the country. I grew up here (and nope, I'm not Mormon) so it's not that big a deal to me, but folks that come here for the first time are sort of confused by the naming convention of our streets.

You see, most everywhere else gives their streets names. Names that make sense... President's names (Washington Street, Lincoln Avenue, Monroe Boulevard, etc.), names of gems (Diamond Circle, Ruby Lane, Emerald Street, etc.), names of local Native American tribes (Navajo Street, Cherokee Lane, etc.), you get the idea.

While we have a few of those in Utah, most of our major streets have coordinates for names. Somewhere in the middle of major cities (Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo) is the 0,0 position and as you move north, south, east, or west, the names of the streets follow suit.

If you go south from 0 all the streets are named sequentially... 100 South, 200 South, 300 South, etc. Same if you go north from 0... 100 North, 200 North, 300 North, etc. Same for East and West streets.

House numbers follow the same sequence. If you live on a North or South Street, your house number would follow the East/West numbering system. If you live on an East or West Street, your house number follows the North/South numbering system.

SO... if your address is 1655 East 1300 South, you live on 1300 South Street on the East side of town and your house number is 1655.

If you think about it... it's actually easier than trying to find 1655 Ruby Lane... While Ruby Lane sounds better than 1300 South, you first have to find Ruby Lane (which could be anywhere) and then look for the house number.

Anyhow... this is a pretty long explanation of the fact that we live on 2400 East, therefore...

"Christmas On 2400 East"