Christmas Lights

This year for the first time I was able to decorate my house for the Christmas season. No, I didn't get a tree. However I used several outside trees. I set the lights on a timer and was able to be welcomed home from work each night with the festive scene below.
There was just one minor hitch... We had no snow for the entire holiday season. I kept wanting to get a photo of my lights covered with fresh fallen snow, but the weather would not cooperate. I would have to wait till well after Christmas for that photo.

I was not the only one to put up lights. I am continually surprised by the fun festivals and events that are a routine part of life here in La Crosse. There seems to be always something going on. One such surprise was the Rotary Christmas Light display down at Riverside Park (as seen above).

The light display is put up each year by the local Rotary club, and each year it gets bigger. I was very impressed by their efforts. Being down in Riverside Park, the lights glow off the dark waters of the Mississippi River. I hear it is even more beautiful if we get snow.

The cost to drive or walk through the display is free, though a donation of canned food is suggested to help out local food pantries. Hot chocolate is available, and on weekends the kids can get their picture taken with Santa. Some nights different choirs will sing carols on the outdoor stage. Many local businesses and organizations decorate Christmas trees that are then lined up around the drive. On the last day of the Rotary Lights, the holiday season is wrapped up with fireworks over Granddad Bluff on New Years Eve at midnight. Conveniently, I was able to watch the display from my own backyard.

About a couple weeks after I should have taken down my own Christmas lights, it finally snowed leading to the above photo. We've had snow on the ground ever since, so my Christmas lights are still up! It looks like now that we are having a legitimate winter I'll have to wait till spring to take them down. Don't worry, they are unplugged.