Michael Mueller, the 33-year-old son of Jim and Judy Mueller, sets up a light show in the Muellers' backyard to mark major holidays. This one, set up for last Christmas, was "the prettiest show yet," Judy Mueller said. Onlookers' cars were streaming by the house, she said.

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Block Talk is a weekly feature that tells about a neighborhood as seen through a resident's eyes. Today we're talking with Judy Mueller, who lives in the original ranch house that was part of the chicken farm that once dominated her Oak Flower neighborhood.

Name, age and occupation: Judy Mueller, 58, homemaker. She was a nursing aide at St. Joseph's Hospital in the early 1970s.

Name of neighborhood: Oak Flower.

How long living in Tucson: Since 1968.

How long in this neighborhood: Mueller and her husband, Jim, moved into their home in 1972. The previous residents moved out because their mountain views were blocked when apartments were built nearby.

How old is this neighborhood? Mueller isn't sure, but she knows her furnace has the date "1954" on it. "It still works. My husband babies it along and keeps it clean."

Blanche White, a member of the neighborhood association board, said she thinks the first homes were built in the mid- to late 1940s. The neighborhood association was founded in 1998, she said.

Why Mueller chose to live here: "It's a big house and it has a big basement, and my husband has a lot of electronic equipment that he saved when he was younger." His mother thought the house would be a great place for the couple because she could get her son's stuff out of his parents' home.

The house was cheap at $25,000, Mueller said. "It was even cheap back then."

What sets the neighborhood apart: The Muellers' 33-year-old son, Michael, who works at the Gaslight Theatre, has light poles arranged in the backyard, where he sets up light shows throughout the year. He won first place from the neighborhood association for his Christmas light show, and he already is planning his Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day light shows.

The lights are a prominent landmark that Mueller can describe when giving people directions to her neighborhood, she said.

The neighborhood also is known for participating in a pilot program with law enforcement to help reduce methamphetamine use and meth-related crimes in the area.

What she's done for the neighborhood: She belongs to the neighborhood association and is involved in the neighborhood watch. Last summer, the Muellers' front yard was the site of a neighborhood methamphetamine-awareness event.

Most outstanding landmark: The light pole. "Everybody knows about it," Mueller said. "People are always coming by and saying they love it. Cars stream by at Christmastime."

Michael Mueller describes it as a show, because people come by to look at it and they love it, his mother said.

The most recent Christmas display featured 20,000 lights. "It was the prettiest show yet."

Best story or memory about this area: The Muellers used to hear a couple next door singing karaoke.

"They were really loud. They had a whole sound system their in their house," Mueller said. The couple won karaoke contests. A few years ago, the couple gave the Muellers a CD of their Christmas karaoke music.

And the Muellers once had a Swiss neighbor who gave them a dozen eggs every Easter. The eggs were dyed with onion skins, and they always were brown, Mueller said.

Best aspect of this community for families, senior citizens and the very young: "There's a nice park down on Columbus (Boulevard) that a lot of people from here go to."

It's called McCormick Park, and Mueller would take her sons there in strollers when they were little.

One improvement that could be made: "I want to see more streetlights. They still don't have enough."

The neighborhood recently got a grant to install some, and Mueller said she is glad that people are working together to unify the neighborhood.

Something that has changed since she has lived here that she really misses nowadays:

"Our neighbors. The older neighbors that used to live across from us."

Favorite neighborhood tradition: "I guess now that we've had the neighborhood meetings, we have block parties and stuff."

BLOCK TALK: oak flower neighborhood

Name: Oak Flower neighborhood

Founded: The first homes were likely built in the mid- to late 1940s, and the neighborhood association was founded in 1998, association board member Blanche White said.

Number of homes: Including duplexes and triplexes, about 1,300. Roughly 70 percent to 80 percent of neighborhood residents are renters, White said.

Boundaries: North Alvernon Way, East Grant Road, North Columbus Boulevard and East Glenn Street.

Municipality: City of Tucson.