Lighting up

Friday night, after working 8 hours, we went to the downtown area for dinner. This is a Big Deal, this Friday after Christmas, in our downtown area. The first restaurant we tried, the one with a potentially nice view of the "doin's", was full at 5:15 p.m., with a 45-minute wait. The second one, the one with no view, it being in the basement, wasn't too busy when we arrived, but was impossible to navigate on our way out an hour later. The food was great: I had clam chowder and prawns, Beast had potato soup and a nice steak, and Sparky had gumbo and lasagna.

It was impossible not to eavesdrop on the people at the table nearest us. The were joking about the title of the "gay cowboy" movie ("Oh, come on, really? Gay cowboys? No way.") and making it into a joke. Otherwise, I was able to ignore them, in spite of practically sitting in their laps.

Once we maneuvered to the exit, we stepped out into one of those perfect small-town early winter nights: light snowfall, no wind, lots of friendly people wandering about...

We stopped at the (locally owned) bookstore on our way to the Lighting to chat with the owner who is a good friend. Then as it approached 7 p.m., we went and listened to the choir in the bandstand with 250+ of our best friends. There was a wonderful spirit of community and low-key fun everywhere. People were singing along with the carols. If only I hadn't been wearing shoes with weaving on the instep, and if only I'd had a hat!

The choir stopped and the head of the local Christmas charity [see, we are a small town: it's even called Christmas C.H.] stepped to the mic to thank everyone for coming and for supporting the charity. They will deliver Christmas baskets to over 800 families this year, in this wonderful small town of ours.

Then Quinn handed the mic over to the mayor and this year's Miss W -- not the one I work with, the 18-year-old pageant winner. The mayor did the usual required thanking, which I ignored while I took the first picture here: the BEFORE photo. I don't actually know these people; they were just there for the same reason we were.

The mayor finally introduced the "honorary switch turner" for 2005. I had found out at work that afternoon who it was, so I sort of felt like I ought to be there, since it was my boss (not that she would have any idea I was there, of course). They do this hokey thing with a seven-foot-tall light switch that supposedly turns on all the lights in the downtown area...which they did...and it worked. Everyone oohed. And looked around for about a minute, admiring the lit trees. I took the second photo. And then the stampede to Starbucks and other hot chocolate venues began.

OK, it was a very orderly stampede, and some of the crowd got in line for the carriage rides, or went to other non-chocolatey shops, but it was immediate.


However, before we joined the stampede, I snapped the bottom photo of one of the nearby trees. They really are pretty.

I'm glad we went this year. It's been awhile. The last time we came for the festivities, Sparky ended up on Beast's shoulders. I remember exactly where we stood, and that my eldest niece was here. I also recall that it was pouring rain. That was kind of a deal-breaker as far as putting me in the Christmas spirit.

Yesterday (Saturday), I spent on family archives while Beast mudded the drywall in the basement and did laundry. It took me over 6 hours to catch up with the notes I wrote. From now on, I'm entering stuff into the database as I do it; this was insane.

Here's a Still Life at Table next to where I worked all day yesterday: