Friday, December 19, 2014

Christmas in Rocklin

          I love living in a small town by a big city.  You get the best of both worlds—you get the Mayberry flavor of bumping into friends wherever you go, yet you have access to Sacramento’s theatres, museums, and downtown events.  And it doesn’t hurt to be an hour and half away from San Francisco.
          Rocklin is jam-packed with great schools, shopping, and restaurants, all just minutes from my front door.  They have tons of local festivals and traditions, but my favorite is this one:
          Yep, Santa Claus takes time out of his busy schedule and rides through our neighborhoods on the top of a decorated fire truck!  Happy kids, squealing and jumping, come pouring out of their homes as elves distribute candy, and the whole thing feels like a sudden “Come as You Are” party where neighbors hug and laugh, every one of us caught up in the magic of Christmas together. It’s as if the Candy Bomber swung over our houses and dumped a barrel of sweets into our arms.
          Rocklin also has several pockets where the neighbors have all agreed to decorate to the hilt, as looky loos creep by in their cars, holiday music blaring.  Here are some I photographed, not far from me:
We once lived in a neighborhood like that (in L.A.) and I blogged about it here.  I loved it.
          I even planted a dwarf Blue Spruce in my Rocklin front yard, just so I could string it with big, old-fashioned lights, and have a living Christmas tree out there every year. 
          When it was smaller I festooned it with giant ornament balls, but I gave that up when it grew too big, sort of the way those pot-bellied pigs get bigger than you think they will.  Every year I have to add another strand.  This year, even with a ladder, we couldn’t reach the top and had to fling the wires like a lasso.  No problem.  If I get stuck in the branches I’ll just call the fire department.  Maybe it’ll be Santa who comes to the rescue.

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