Wanderlust

Festival of Lights

Yesterday, after dinner, we ventured into the heart of downtown Ogden to stir up a little Christmas cheer. Snuggled in hats, mittens and boots we walked around Historic 25th Street's Christmas Village, a yearly installation of lights and miniature holiday scenes in tiny houses. Christmas music unrolls from the park's amphitheater, and the lights along the concert hall pulse in rhythm to it. There are clusters of nearly fifty little houses, all lit up and surrounded by crowds of children pressing their faces against the windows. Scenes of model trains under Christmas trees and thousands of variations on the theme abound. There's even a large house, the heart of the village, that houses a real live Santa whose knee you can sit on if you are Mormon.

Owen was at first completely enthralled with the parking lot. All of these cars- in one place! He was fairly impressed with a nearby display of a metal train, strung with lights. We wandered around the sidewalks, ducking to dodge the gnarled strands of people. Owen was fixated on walking HIMSELF and very soon made it clear that holding hands was unacceptable. When it was safe to do so, we allowed him his independence. The speakers were playing the theme from Charlie Brown and I watched him, his red hat bobbing as he ran in rhythm to it through the pathways. For the first time, I worried that he was fast enough that I might not be able to catch him.

Half an hour and one missing mitten later, we were back in the car, sipping hot chocolate and listening to the cries of protest from the back seat. Ah, Christmas cheer! There's a reason it comes but once a year...