Audio By Carbonatix
When a friend asked a few days before Halloween whether I thought we could get away with trick-or-treating–ya know, for the candy–I didn’t automatically say yes. Or no. I just let the idea hang with a noncommittal “Yeah, that would be funny.” It’s an unwritten rule that using fake blood, making mischief, and having the giddy sugar rush of too much candy is just child’s play. I’m all for carving a pumpkin or two, but gorging on sweets will make me sick, and toilet-papering houses and throwing eggs at cars would most certainly land me in jail. Besides, as an adult, I’m supposed to be putting a stop to all that orneriness.
Fortunately, it’s still acceptable to take pleasure in Christmas after the age of 14. I would even argue that it gets better with age. I don’t count every hour to Christmas morning starting on December 1, and I can sleep on Christmas Eve. And now I actually appreciate practical gifts like socks and underwear (hint, hint). Christmas seems so much more civil now with the good will, peace on Earth, and all that. It’s more about family and everyone’s getting involved and enjoying it together.
That’s exactly the spirit of West End MarketPlace’s Celebrate the Holidays! event. Santa and his reindeer, both looking woefully out of place in a snowless Texas downtown, will listen to wishes and have their pictures taken. There will also be dancers, baton twirlers, puppets, live music, face-painting, carnival games, midway rides, and, at sunset, a performance of Christmas music by Dallas choir The Vocal Majority on a stage near a 42-foot-tall lighted snowman. I don’t have kids, but I’d like to borrow some just so I can try to recapture some of the joy a child would feel at this affair. If only they’d let me bounce in the inflatable fun-jump.
