A walk in the mist

Its sort of a tradition for us to walk down Christmas Tree Lane every year. For those of you who don't know what Christmas Tree Lane is, its about two miles of decorated houses in an affluent neighborhood. Most of the season (December 1-24) they turn it into a one-way street and you drive down it (slowly), enjoying everyone's decorations. They even used to broadcast Christmas music into your radio (like the old movie drive-ins did with the audio). I haven't driven down it since I was little. Nowadays most cars come with daytime running lights and about 1% of people know how to manually override them, so you end up being blinded from behind, all the while asphyxiating on the exhaust of the cars in front of you. Not really what I'd call a fun time.

Two times a season they close the street off and allow only pedestrians. Most years this involves a clusterf**k of people, rambling the street, bumping into everything that moves. And the decorations had slowly been becoming less and less spectacular. I had even begun to dread the tradition the last couple of years.

But something happened this year. I was genuinely excited about the walk this year since Keegan was now old enough to enjoy all the lights. We avoided the usual hour long wait for a drink at the Starbucks closest to the event, instead opting for "extra hot" beverages at the one closest to our house. Then we avoided the frustration of trying to find a parking spot by meeting our friend's at their parent's house (right by the event). There were still a TON of people, but instead of the zombie like stupor everyone normally was in, everyone "respected the double yellow" (meaning people going north stayed on one side of the road, people going south stayed on the other). We met up with some friends who we don't get to see often enough and enjoyed a walk on the brisk, misty, evening. And to top off the experience, it seems that the lights, sound system, and decorations had been improved since last year. I had a great time!