One of our town’s annual events is a “Dickens of a Christmas.” Main Street is blocked off, various groups stage reenactments of holiday scenes or plays in store windows, there is a parade of people dressed in Dickensian garb, choirs sing and instrumentalists play at various locations, vendors sell hot chocolate and various foods, and there is a carol sing and lighting of the Christmas tree. My oldest son did a nice write-up about this year’s event.

In past years attendance had gone way down and few groups seemed to be participating, but this year there seemed to be a resurgence of interest. In fact, it was almost too crowded to enjoy at some points. We discussed going next year right when the parade starts at 6 and then eating there. They used to only sell munchies and warm drinks, but now area restaurants sell full dinners at a food court. It’s hard to get there by 6 and eat dinner at home beforehand when many of the family members don’t get home til 5:30 or 6. Most people seem to come for the tree lighting at 8, so if we got there early and ate, then maybe the windows wouldn’t be so crowded for an hour or so til people started trickling in for the tree lighting.

Overall we really enjoyed it.

The sad thing is, though, that I hadn’t originally planned on going. I’m getting to be — dare I say it — somewhat leaning toward old and set in my ways. Usually after dinner I like to crash with my feet up and go through recipe magazines or watch TV or read or whatever. I don’t usually like to get out and go anywhere in the evenings, especially when it’s cold and dark. And crowded places make me feel a little claustrophobic. And I have this thing about being able to have access to bathrooms.

We hadn’t talked about going, but I overheard my husband say something to one of the kids about it, and Jason was bringing his girlfriend over for it. I found out afterward that Jeremy considers it one of the highlights of the year. So I was glad we went. I was also glad no one had asked me point-blank if I wanted to go beforehand so I didn’t cast any negativity over it. We talked about the need to get out of our rut sometimes. I’m a confirmed rut-dweller, but it is nice occasionally to get out and about. 🙂