Kick Starting The Christmas Season

Thanksgiving was different for us this year. We weren't able to be with family, but we were so blessed to spend the day with some wonderful friends of ours here in San Ramon, the Linde family. Nolan and their daughter, Naomi, are a few weeks apart in age and would make the most adorable couple (in about 14 years!) Karen and Peter truly have the gift of hospitality and we are so grateful for their warm hearts and for opening their home to us.

Since we don't "do" Black Friday, we made plans to go downtown to Union Square in San Francisco for the Christmas tree lighting. I had been eagerly anticipating this day since we made plans to go, well over a month beforehand. Todd even made hotel reservations for us at the historic Westin St. Francis so we could stay and soak up the spirit of the holiday season. We arrived at the hotel a bit after 3pm. The traffic getting into the city was crawling, to say the least. After resting in our room for a while we headed out to an early dinner around 4:30 so we'd be sure not to miss the tree lighting ceremony at 6. When we left the restaurant a few minutes before 6 we were instantly swept up into the throng of thousands of people heading toward Union Square. I have never been with more people in one place in my life! Think completely insane Times Square in New York City on New Year's Eve crowded! Streets were blocked off, there were barricades to keep people from trespassing in unsanctioned areas, and wall to wall people as far as the eye could see.

I had no clue that we would be mere specks in the crowd. The idealist in me figured there would be two or three hundred people gathered around and all the children would have room to play and dance around the tree while Todd and I would contentedly cuddle and sip our Starbucks beverages, lost in the sweetness of our quiet, memory-in-the-making moment.

And so the pretty little fantasy comes crashing down...

After the tree was lit we elbowed our way up to its base so Nolan could see it close up. He was too agitated by the crowd to be very impressed so we again elbowed our way back to our hotel, crawled into the big cushy bed and watched a movie. We later learned that the day after Thanksgiving is the most crowded day of the year in the city. Good to know! The idealist in me is dismayed that we will not be making this an annual tradition, but the realist in me is thanking the Lord I don't "have to" do this again for tradition's sake!