What’s Christmas like where you live?

I’m in Southern New England, and we go nuts. Much town decorating and events, dueling Victorian style carolers, lights up everywhere, special winter markets, the whole nine yards.

I used to participate more, but I still like it.

We’ve had the parade in town two weeks ago. Several marketplaces for Christmas at churches and banquet venues.

Downtown has lights in the trees on several streets. Neighborhoods have contests for lights and decorations.

Holiday parties are happening. I’ve gone to three already, two more this week.

We have a holiday lights show at the local botanical garden; all decorations are put up by volunteers, it covers four acres of grounds and has walking trails to view them.

Location is eastern North Carolina.

No parade, but the town is decorated. The Heritage Tree of Lights (a heritage oak in the middle o ftwon) was lit 10 dyas ago, the trees down the median of the main drag were lit on December 5.

This coming Friday there will be a Christmas Tree lighting in the square in the middle of town, and a menorah lighting at the same square on Sunday and every night of Hanukkah, Banners have been up all over town since November 15.

Horrendously commercialized.

Except for Christians, no one really cares about Christmas. It’s just another normal day. There are some commercialized business doing promotions, but that’s about it. Some passionate people may get together and celebrate, but they don’t do it the real way.

But by the way, a friend of mine had an idea that we do a gift exchange on Christmas day and everyone agreed. So now I’m sitting here with a wrapped gift ready for the game :)

All the stuff you mentioned, except parades. Plenty of Christmas concerts. Lots and lots of pretty lights. Lots and lots of parties. It’s really a great time of the year.

And I will humbly disagree with the statement that no one cares except for Christians. At least around here, everybody sort of gets into it. The fact that it is Jesus’ birthday is only a part of the modern celebration.

And as I have said before on this site, you can believe whatever you want to about Jesus Christ- whoever he was, his fingerprints are all over the Western and Westernized world.

That’s saying something in my opinion. Worthy of at least modest recognition.

It’s probably more subtle here in the secular liberal Bay Area than in many other places, but the towns do decorate: redwood trees covered in lights, tree-lighting ceremony, downtown and many stores decorated. It’s nice.

I’m in NY right next to CT. I live in “horse country” and there’s a Santa thing where people dress up for the holiday and ride their horses around. I missed that. There are also local historical societies and community groups that do caroling and stuff.

Where I live, there’s a great party where the neighbors all come to the community building and it’s catered and Santa comes on a fire truck for the kids. Parents buy their children a gift and it gets stashed in a bag on the side, so when Santa comes in, the gifts are handed to him and each kid gets what they wanted (because it was chosen and bought by their parent). There’s a DJ and it’s BYOB. Casual dress.

I missed that party this year because my job had their huge holiday party at a fancy venue. Over 500 people. First two weekends in December were two parties I attended, each with an overnight hotel stay. There’s one next Saturday and there are many during the week but I don’t go to them all because to me, it’s just too much, especially if I don’t know the people there, they’re not going to miss it if i’m not present.

I live ten minutes from a huge, great mall in CT but I try to avoid it unless my daughter wants to go there with her friends. If I do need something at the mall, I’ll park right outside the store I want to go to, like Macy’s or Lord and Taylor, and run in and run out. I like Pier One and that’s nearby.

All the other places in the area are as commercial as anywhere else.

This year I haven’t bought much and I don’t need much. I think I’m going to give close family some nice wine or champagne and that’s it. They don’t need anything and I don’t need anything. If we all do ever need anything, we pretty much buy it for ourselves.

Bay area is festive but with a liberal twist.

A few years ago, the tree lighting ceremony at city hall was interrupted by a Black Lives Matter protest.

The shopping centers have swapped out Christmas trees for more inclusive decorations. Snowflakes with blue and white lights.

A local off-season burner built a pedicab complete with lights and music. He offers rides down a local street that is known for being fully decked out in Christmas lights and decorations.