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YOUTH CORRESPONDENT
The holiday season brings with it numerous catchy television jingles, eggnog, sales events and much more. So what's the best part?
That's debatable. In the opinion of this writer, the best part would definitely be the lights.
You know what I'm talking about--the white iciclelike lights dangling from the gutters; the green, red and gold lights across houses, streets and offices alike.
The lights of the season capture the feeling of warmth and happiness brought by whichever holiday one practices.
Ever since I was little, my dad would take me out to walk around the neighborhood. I saw everything from pink flamingos invading the space of Santa's reindeer, to the traditional manger scene or candles in the windows.
The way the lights illuminated the ordinarily dark streets was awe-inspiring. The snow that occasionally lined the ground only added to the display.
It's impossible to get away from them. Driving from place to place, you're bound to see many colorful displays of the holidays.
Fredericksburg is no exception. The Holiday Parade truly captured the spirit. What else could bring together hundreds of people from places as far away as Orange and Manassas in the numbing cold to sit on hard sidewalks?
The lights strung from the trees and along storefronts serve as more than illumination for pedestrians on the sidewalks.
Here's a riddle a few of you who have to drive down Dahlgren Road may know: What do you get when you stack some tires--starting with the big ones on the bottom, moving to smaller ones on top--then spray-paint the stack green, and finally hang some holiday lights on it?
If you guessed a magnificent display of holiday spirit, you were right. Passers-by at night can hardly tell the makeshift "tree" apart from any other, except on close examination.
During the day, one can view the seven or eight green tires that set the decoration apart from the rest. Jack Sly himself admitted that this decoration in front of Mullen's Grading, Cleaning and Hauling is definitely one of the wittiest ever made.
Small or large, fancy or simple, displays of all kinds set the mood of the season. Take the time to drive around and see what some people have done with their spare time. Walk through downtown Fredericksburg when you go to the mall to pick up some last-minute gifts.
You'll be refreshed and ready to tackle the hours of gift-wrapping ahead.
JAMES GOODWIN is a sophomore at King George High School.