Sunday, December 6, 2015

Trees of December 6

This weekend was focused round seasonal activities. The art group I belong to was having it's annual holiday fest which was timed to co-incide withe the arrival of Santa Claus in our village and the lighting of the village Christmas Tree.



It has been a beautiful sunny weekend but in December once that sun goes down the temperatures plummet. I am always predisposed to be the first to notice it is cold so it was a quick trip to the tree lighting event.



Santa and Mrs Claus arrived on an old fire engine which had first done a tour through the village shopping centers. With frequent application of the fire siren to announce it's whereabouts the arrival of Santa was keenly anticipated and we dashed into a suitable viewing spot only just a few seconds before the engine came into sight (apologies for the blurry shot but it was now or never!).



As Santa's "sleigh" was pulling into position suddenly the switch was thrown and the tree burst into light.



Once Santa was off loaded it was possible to walk around all sides of his "sleigh" to admire it. And to notice that the big tree in front of the village jewelry store has been lit up for the season also.


The tree looks stunning in blue from a distance but, curiously, up close the blueness fades somewhat and careful examination of a photograph shows the lights do not extend all the way to the tips of the branches. But still, this tree is a magnificent sight on a cold winter's night and I'm sure I will be back trying to get just the right shot of it for a future post.


And to close, my set-up shot explaining my day. For the Holiday Fest I had volunteered to be Santa's Helper. This task was primarily focused on keeping track of the families that came to visit with Santa and have their photo taken. There were so many excited little people to meet in this two day event. I had set up the back drop for the photos and had brought along this old sled in case we needed an extra prop (we did not). Once we were home tonight and done with dinner I needed the reward of a good slice of pound cake with a berry and whipped cream topping along with my nightcap of a fruit tea. But oh my golly, I felt chilled through and was also tucking that plaid rug/blanket round my knees to warm me up.

So there we are, celebrating lighting the Tree of December!  Do you have something similar in your hometown?






1 comment:

  1. We do have a tree lighting - but we haven't been. (?!?) We also missed the Parade this year even though the weather was great for a parade - afternoons in the 50's this weekend. Looks like your town is definitely ready for the holidays. I had to send a link to this post for a certain fireman to see. He'd just been commenting on how all the Fire Station yellow caution signs show these open trucks and no one has a open fire truck any more - and there you show us one, with Santa aboard, no less!

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