Sweet Pea wrote:
Xmas. I love seeing beautifully lit houses, covered with snow at night.
That's how I feel. Part of it has to do with the old tradition my family had before my dad passed away when I was in high school. Every Christmas Eve, he, my mother, and I (my brothers are a lot older than me, and thought it was 'lame' so they didn't go) would pile into our Escort stationwagon and drive around to look at the Christmas lights. My father was a rural carrier (mailman in the country), so he knew where all the great light displays were that weren't in town. It was so wonderful. We'd turn on a country station that only played Christmas carols on Christmas Eve and day and would drive around for hours on end. I still remember how it would look if it started snowing and Dad would turn on the brights. It always reminded me of the starlines when one would jump to hyperspace in the Star Wars movies. I always loved that.
So anyway, Christmas is my favorite holiday. And it was always Christmas Eve that meant the most to me, with the viewing lights, going to a late evening church service, etc. Christmas Day usually involved a bit too much yelling by my mother to truly be enjoyable, although I
love seeing what people think of the gifts I got them. I never ask people what they want for Christmas, I always try to come up with the perfect gift on my own. It's just so much more rewarding for me that way.