Enjoy these public displays of refraction

Just as the winter becomes darkest and the days short and dreary, people all over spread holiday cheer and light up the night with glimmering strands draped over trees, windows and doorways. Some folks -- maybe you or your neighbors -- take holiday lights to the limit, covering the house, the car, the dog....

Click through our collection of some of North America's brightest displays, from a 17-year-old's 20,000-light extravaganza in Florida to the audacious brightness of the entire town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.