*Festivus (i.e., this post may have Festivus hints)
‘Twas two weeks before Christmas, when all through the house I was a reading a book because books relax me.
Our tree still not up, nor stockings hung, but we still had hope that Santa Claus soon will be here.
Our kittens were nestled all snug in their beds, while we were still eating dinner.
When outside the house, came sirens, blue and red, and wailing
So loud, the kitties wake, and we run outside.
When, what to our wondering eyes did appear,
Five cop cars, two fire trucks, all dressed in bling lights.
Behind them, a sleigh, a little old driver, and eight tiny reindeer.
“It’s Santa Claus,” exclaimed my children.
Collecting canned goods and unwrapped toys.
All for the little ones, Christmas joys.
Ho ho ho who wouldn’t go…we all did. It was fun!
This is a tradition in our town when the police and fire department get together to give Santa Claus a full escort through all the neighborhoods in the city. Santa takes pictures with kids and tosses candy canes. I was excited in spite of the fact that I didn’t get a candy cane this year. The city provides a calendar announcing when they will be arriving in your neighborhood, but I do not look because I like to be surprised. This is the seventh year in this neighborhood and, once again, I was surprised. I think, Wow, what are all those sirens!
Do you have traditions in your city or neighborhood? Please share. These things make life rich and memorable, don’t you think?
AmyReeseWrites 
That’s a great tradition to have. I like local events like that, especially ones that help others.
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It’s fun for the neighborhood, too. Brings people out of their house for a few minutes. It’s a great cause. I think they do pretty well.
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Beautiful tradition.
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Thanks, Millie!
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What a cool tradition! Yesterday, we took the baby downtown for a walk and we had apparently just missed our town’s Christmas parade. This was fine by us, though, since we got good parking. Such Scrooges we are.
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Thanks, Emily. I haven’t been to a Christmas parade in ages. Will little C be seeing Santa?
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That’s such a cute tradition. My dad used to make “Santa footprints” by our chimney. But now thinking back, I should have known better. They were always white (implying snow). We don’t have snow…
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Oh, that’s really sweet. But, I can see how you’d fall for that one. Santa is magic, so he can do anything! That’s what I always tell my kids.
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What a great town tradition. We don’t have anything like that. Just a big Christmas mouse that gets put on the town clock each year. Although one year, someone shot him with an arrow. It was only up for a day before town officials removed it, but it was the talk of the town for a while. 🙂
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Oh, I like that one, Carrie. I’ve never seen a Christmas mouse on a clock before. The nerve of someone to shoot the poor thing with an arrow. I can see how that would have caused waves. 🙂
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Needless to say my boys thought it was hilarious. I may have chuckled a bit myself…
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How could you not?! I’d say someone thought seriously about all this. How often do you see arrows? Like, never!
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I know! That was probably the most surprising thing of all. It’s not like I live in the 19th century wilderness. 🙂
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We have a truck owned by Tony (according to the sign) who drives around the ‘hood offering to sharpen knives.
I bet he’d make a great Santa.
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Oh dear…sounds like you could use the Santa escort in your neighborhood. They could pull double duty that way! Watch out for Tony.
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Oh wow! We don’t have scenes like this in NYC! That’s beautiful…
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Thanks, Sandee. I always enjoy it. Kids love it! I would like to see that beautiful tree in NYC! I’m sure that’s a sight.
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In here the tradition is the “Three King/Wise Men Parade” but that’s not until January, a lot of candies going on, I’ll take pictures and a write a little post about it.
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Oh, that sounds cool. I’ve never heard of a Three King/Wise Men parade. Growing up, we took the wise men from the nativity scene and put them on the mantel since they arrive later in January. Hey, they deserve a parade! I look forward to your post about it.
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This is a wonderful idea. I love the town spirit and that everyone gets involved. We have the “Christmas Train” come through our town. We wrote about it last year herehttp://discoveringourarea.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/the-holiday-train/ Each town that it stops in collects food for the foodbank. It is wonderful, too.
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I like the idea of a train coming through town. That sounds wonderful! This does get people into the spirit of giving. That’s what I enjoy about it. I’ll be sure to read your post. Thanks!
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In the neighborhood I grew up in, we have a historical district with old row houses on either side of the street. Each row house put up a Christmas tree, and there would be a little ceremony/party where Santa would go down the street and magically “light” each tree. Then there would be Christmas songs, etc, and eventually a bunch of us would end up at someone’s house for cocoa and cookies. That was fun. 😀
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Weebs, that does sound fun. What a magical memory! We used to go caroling around our block in a big group of 20 or 30 people. At the end of our block and our caroling session, one family always gave us a box of See’s candy. I think we sounded pretty bad, but we always had a good time.
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Anything that scores you See’s candy as a prize is a good memory 😀
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Wow, that’s a cool tradition. The thing I always remember about Christmas was a neighbor a few blocks away who would put up his own decorations by himself…even though he was paralyzed from the waist down. His house would always place third or fourth in the city’s competition, and it amazed me that his condition didn’t stop him from celebrating.
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Now that’s cool, Jen. That’s very inspirational. I’m happy if we manage a string of lights. Some people really do it up. I’ll admit, it does make things festive! That’s a nice memory to have of your neighbor.
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And I was expecting a Frank Costanza ‘Festivus for the rest of us’ inspired post. B’ah!
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Oh, yeah!! I remember that! Just Santa and a couple of cop cars and fire trucks.
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Oh, I love that idea! Sooooo much better than going downtown to a crowded parade to see Santa. What a jolly old elf to make the rounds like that.
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I agree. No need to go to the crowded mall or parade! That makes it all extra special.
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The police in our town do this as well. They came through yesterday, which was perfect because my boy was sick with the flu. Cheered him right up. 🙂
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Oh, very cool, Lucas! I bet it cheered him up. I was wondering if this happened anywhere else. Now, I know. It’s fun, isn’t it?
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Gotta love small town/neighborhood traditions, which are usually simple and to the point … and I can’t forget, love the opening pics of the relaxing felines.
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Thanks, Frank. This is true what you say about small towns. No fuss and they come right to your neighborhood! Gotta love that. Aren’t my kitties sweet? They are little loves.
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We miss having cats in our house.
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Maybe Santa should bring you kitties! You know, there are so many cats that need a loving home. It sounds like your home is such a place.
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I miss Christmas traditions. Here, we have casino rooftop ice skating and cactus gardens filled with hundreds of thousands of lights. Which is very beautiful, but doesn’t have Christmas magic.
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Well, skating on the roof on the rooftop sounds pretty cool. Gotta love Christmas in Vegas! I assume you’re in Vegas, correct? Cactus gardens with lights sound nice. At least they’re making the effort. I feel the same about Christmas in California. You kind of need to pretend…Ooohh, look at the wintry wonderland and close your eyes!
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Can eating too many cookies count as a tradition?
Oh… wait… this was supposed to be a SEASONAL thing?
Um… never mind, then.
😉
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Oh, SIG. You silly…I’ll count it as Seasonal, but just for you!! The cookies must be red and green though and shaped in christmasy shapes. 🙂
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This is sweet, and traditions are so enriching! My city has a 34th St. light display and it’s always very unique and fun to visit. 🙂
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La La, that sounds beautiful! I love to take in the lights. We have a block’s worth who do it up big. They probably have a whopping electricity bill!
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Oh, lol, I was reading along and oh craaaap, there’s a Christmas fire, wait why are Santa and the reindeer with the firemen that doesn’t seem very professional and . . . oh. Well, yeah, that makes a little more sense.
I love your photography. I want to try some, if I can ever get some rechargable batteries and stick them in and stuff.
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Ha ha. Poor Santa caught in a fire! That’s comical. Thanks, miss. I take lots of pictures, I guess. I have so many I don’t know what to do with them all. They sit on my computer! Some end up on my blog. Some day I’ll do something with them all. I actually have a rechargeable. It makes all the difference to me. I got in a bundle.
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Sounds like a fun neighborhood you live in. I like the kittens.
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Thanks! It is a fun neighborhood. The kids love this every year. My kitties are little joys.
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