I
have always found this the most wonderful time of the year but not because of the
gifts which has commercialized it way too much to my liking. As Alfred so famously said on Miracle on 34th
Street, “there is a lot of bad ‘isms floating around in the world, but one of
the worse is commercialism. Make a buck,
make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it’s the
same, don’t care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.” I admit that I did my fair share of Christmas
shopping but with limitations, all online on Black Friday morning and Cyber Monday
and then having to play roulette with brazen package thieves that have become
rampant this year. Talk about not caring
what Christmas stands for.
But
only spending at most a day and a half on shopping for the material things, it
leaves me the rest of the season to do what I love best, snuggling in front of
the tree in a comfy robe wrapped in my warm Sherpa Fleece Blanket and going "Around the Bay" with a cup of snickerdoodle hot chocolate, hot caramel apple cider, or snowman hot chocolate looking at Christmas lights and decorations that someone
painstakingly created or put up to bring a smile to our faces.
Union
Square – San Francisco
Fairmont
Gingerbread House – San Francisco
Pier
39 – San Francisco
Christmas
in the Park – San Jose
Victorian
Christmas - Fremont
Chestnut
Christmas Lit Houses – South San Francisco
Christmas
Tree Lane – San Carlos
Christmas
Tree Lane - Alameda
Although many are repeats of previous years, one thing we should all
learn is nothing is permanent as demonstrated by the Camp Fire last month
that wiped out the entire town of Paradise and now the Westin St. Francis sugar castles no longer on display this
year making me glad I have those memories and pictures from previous years.
With
two more weekends to go, where will you find me next? One thing is for sure, it won’t be at a mall.
Here
is wishing that you all find this the most wonderful time of the year for all
things Merry and Bright.
