If I would have traveled in the spring, I’m sure the rushing waters and the green grass and the blooming flowers would have been pretty. There was something special, though, about traveling around the holidays. I’m not afraid to admit it. I do not consider myself a religious person. Whenever someone asks, I always say the same thing, “I would call myself more spiritual than religious.” Religion, however, is everywhere this time of year, and it seems to me that most people think that you can either be religious and festive or not religious and not festive. I want to put it out there that I’m spiritual and festive. I appreciate and respect the magic of it all. This time of year really is magical, but what I consider magical is different from what you may consider magical. And that’s fine by me. My magic is a soldier surprising his family for the holidays, a child opening a present from “Santa,” and tacky Christmas lights, among other things.
I love tacky Christmas lights, and I saw plenty on my trip across the country. Tomorrow (Thursday, 12/22) I will be putting a string of blue icicle lights on my deck. They’re tasteful, unfortunately. Someday, however, Brad and I will have a house of our very own, and whether he agrees with me or not, I will be the most obnoxious person in our neighborhood when it comes to decorations. The houses I saw on this trip gave me plenty of ideas for the future. Colored, blinking lights, blow-up Santa Clauses, candy cane yard ornaments, you name it…….I probably saw it, but my favorite decoration of all was the blow-up Santa in a helicopter. This Santa in a helicopter was on top of a motel on the side of the road in Colorado. The Travel Inn looked pretty sketchy, but I probably would have stayed there anyways because of the owner’s excellent taste.
Honestly, there were decorations everywhere I went. The Great Hall in Chicago’s Union Station was very festive. From the snow shadows to the life-size ornaments, there was no way I could have forgotten it was the holidays. The Art Institute of Chicago was decorated, too. For example, there were two statues of massive lions outside the doors of the museum, and around the lions’ necks was a beautiful green wreath with a perfect red bow. Some of the exhibits in the museum even had a holiday theme. In the Miniature Exhibit, there were rooms decorated for both Christmas and Hanukkah. Many of the towns I passed by had wreaths on the light posts. Other towns had subdivisions with massive participation in the holiday lights department. Olvera Street in Los Angeles (which I will blog about in a few days) was decorated for the holidays, as well. The pavilion in the middle of the square housed a large nativity scene with golden statues. They probably weren't real gold, but they were beautiful nonetheless. LAX even joined in on the festivities. At my gate, there were nutcrackers over 10 feet tall! And though I didn’t see it myself, I heard the TSA agents at LAX even sang holiday songs for the travelers.
Over these past few days, I could not help but be in the holiday spirit. The Christmas lights at night were probably my favorite kind of decoration. I can only think of one thing that would have topped those lights. A passenger dressed as Santa Claus who.....there's a stipulation here-didn't break character. One guy did have a Santa hat hanging over his seat. It’s too bad that I forgot to take a picture.
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Merry Christmas
And to all you atheists out there, have a great Sunday.
P.S. I'll post again tomorrow. The plan is to publish a post a day until I'm all out of stories from this trip...may take me a while. Hope you're ready to keep reading.
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