The holiday season is here, but it sure doesn’t feel like it, as most students are cooped up at home with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Winter breaks are typically riddled with family trips or visiting relatives, but apparently, 2020 and COVID-19 had different plans for us.
Realizing that Christmas in 2020 would be nothing like my family’s usual celebration, I was pretty bummed out to say the least. Being on winter break was great. I didn’t have to wake up or go to sleep early (not that I did that anyways), but I wasn’t able to go to Mountain High to snowboard with my brother ,meet up with my friends over winter break, or go meet my relatives.
Exasperated and frustrated, I decided to take a walk with my mom so that I could get some fresh air after being stuck inside for so long. Not long later, I returned home with a completely different spirit about this year’s holidays.
Going on walks is nothing new to me and my family; we’re very big on taking nice, slow strolls after dinners. But, that night I decided that I needed a change. Instead of walking around my block like normal, I decided I would walk to the nearby neighborhood. And so, my mom and I put on our masks and ventured out. Although it was getting dark and cold incredibly fast, I couldn’t go back home. I needed this walk, this refresher, which hopefully would clear my mind and stress. So, I continued. I continued until I saw a shimmer of lights down the block, and I wondered what it was. It couldn’t possibly be the street lights since there were only small roads.
As my mom and I walked towards the light, I saw something that astonished me because it was a sight to behold. In front of me was a gigantic house that I knew had been recently built, since I had seen its remodeling process during the summer. It was amazing to see the final product, even if the house wasn’t mine. On top of that, there were a myriad of countless, sparkling lights dangling all around the house. Human-sized candy cane statues leaning against the walls, a humongous toy train and gingerbread house neatly laid on the front lawn, over 12 trees, glistening with lights all throughout the yard, one large Christmas tree with an almost overwhelming number of decorations at the gate entrance, and to top it all off, Christmas songs softly being played through speakers embedded all around the house. Now, that is a sight I’ll never forget.
I didn’t spend much time in front of the house, but a few minutes worth of admiring was definitely enough to rejuvenate the Christmas spirit that had been once lost in me. I realized that even if I couldn’t go on trips or see people like usual break plans, I still had plenty of things to look forward to. Perhaps festive lights and decoration is all that everyone needs to spend a happy holiday season at home this year.
