ILYPANTS.NET

Notes To My Kids: Little Stories About Grown Up Kids

Do you remember one of the Christmases in Granbury?  One in particular still is very sharp in my memories to this day.  That Xmas was the first time we went through the downtown park with all of the lights on the trees and the library that had been turned into a giant indoor Xmas diorama of sorts.

I remember one night around Xmas when we all went walking around the park.  The city had trussed the trees with bright strings of Christmas lights.  The lights hung from the trees of the park casting warm and soft white light over its grass, playground equipment, and all who walked through it that cold night.  The only thing that would have made it more magical would have been the presence of some snow on the ground, which of course was very unlikely.  The city of Granbury does that each year and that year was special to me since all of you were there with me looking at the lights.

Like most young boys Roger was not so engaged by it, but Jane was.  She looked at it with glee while Roger walked through the soft glows more stoically.  But what really seemed to get everyone’s attention even more was what they did to the inside of the library.  That made both of you kids take notice. And me as well.

And what did the library do?  Most of the inside of the building was turned into an indoor winter wonderland of sorts.  Little dioramas, masses of decorations, nativity scenes in miniature, a forest of Christmas trees, and little Christmas towns adorned the place.  They called this production “The Enchanted Forest”.

I remember everyone walking around in the place marveling at the details of the exhibit.  You could have spent hours in there and not seen all of the minutiae contained on the tables and shelves.  All of it was draped in white tree flock and lit by candles and other flickering lights that gave the library a soft and shadowy glow.  All in all it was a big place filled with Yuletide glee built with a horde of small beautiful things.

But what was most magical to me was the look on Jane’s face.  She was perhaps eight or nine and was immersed in what she saw and was fascinated with the many small things surrounding her.  She walked around all quiet in wide eyed wonder of the huge panoply of holiday objects around her.   Roger liked it too but being a boy he was not so immersed in it all, his mind perhaps on other things: the soon to unwrapped presents and gifts at the house perhaps?  Most likely so one would think.

But yes that look of little girl wonder on Jane’s face was something that shines bright still like the lights in the park also did that cold and wintery night.  Christmas is a bright and magical time of the year, filled with family ties, gifts, and other delights.  But the real present that night was seeing Jane’s face:  happy, filled with delight, and walking through a delightful place with her brother and me. A little girl lost in wonder at a joyful place during a wonderful time of year.