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A Christmastime sleigh ride through LodiJillian Carli Once again it is Christmastime. A season filled with Christmas carols, cards of greeting, tons of food, and of course, presents. Most families at Christmas have certain Christmas traditions. Whether it be an extravagant Christmas dinner, or leaving cookies and milk out for Santa Claus. Christmas is a time of celebration and joy. My family is no exception. I proudly say that the Carli family of Lodi upholds the spirit of Christmas with our annual sightseeing Christmas light drive around Lodi. This is no ordinary sightseeing drive! On this drive, the car, or in this case van, is filled with Christmas spirit. In the last few weeks before Christmas Eve, the subject of this annual event is always brought up. After about two days of my parents reassuringly saying, “We’ll do it tomorrow,” “Hold on until tomorrow” and, “Definitely tomorrow,” the family piles into the van and begins the Christmas lights sightseeing adventure. As we drive off into the night, there is an energy of excitement in the air, the evening is just beginning. As we drive pass the beautifully lit houses many, “Look at that!” “Beautiful” and the occasional “Wow” can be heard as we turn every new corner. Different colors reflect in the car windows, giving everyone in the car a sense of wonder, amazement, and serenity. At that moment you could care less about work, school, money, all the petty problems of life, and just concentrate on being together and appreciating the beauty and joy of the Christmas season. At some point, usually the middle of the drive, my two other siblings and myself join together as a team for one and only one reason, ice cream. We casually bring up the subject of being monstrously hungry at the exact moment that Baskin Robbins comes into sight. Sadly, the plan usually fails miserably, but still every year we relentlessly pursue our goal of convincing our parents to buy the delicious treat. About an hour and a half into the drive, we begin to near the end of this winter outing. Everyone in the car begins to become tired and restless. We begin to become almost bored, but then there is always one house we save for last. As we approach the house, the excitement builds and everyone is sitting straight up in their seat. The corner is turned and there it is a sight to behold. Lights of every color of the rainbow, deer on the plush green grass sprinkled with snow (fake). To top it all off, the man of the season, St. Nick is standing in the center of it all. That house is the closest to the North Pole that I’ve ever been, and that I’ll ever get to. It is my kind of winter wonderland. The drive home is always quite happy and festive. The entire family can be heard laughing reminiscing about the adventure of the evening. As we pass Baskin Robbins for the final time, my siblings and I always cry out, “What about that ice cream?” in one last feeble attempt to connive our parents to give in. Once again we are denied, but mark my words, we will not give up! As we pull up to our house, the events of the evening once again pass through the minds of my family, and into the memory books. Another year, another Christmas, and another extraordinary showcase of decorative lights. Lodinews Home | News | Sports
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