This Christmas will certainly be a memorable one for a plethora of reasons. I mean… *broadly gestures at everything*. But, at least it won’t be as depressing for us as I thought it would be.

For a long time, I wasn’t in the Christmas spirit at all. It’s been a rough year, for one. I spent my Thanksgiving really sad because I was eating turkey with just my household while watching my mom’s new favorite show Grimm, which wasn’t what I’d called a Christmas show. Keyword: wasn’t. 

And, of course, I now live in central western Washington state at sea-level, surrounded by lush, green foliage and salt water. I probably won’t see a single snowflake this year or even next year, which I feel very ambivalent about. I certainly miss the beauty of the sparkly, white snow I’m used to in Colorado, which could put me into the Christmas spirit almost instantly. But, I don’t miss shoveling snow or driving on icy roads. I recently revisited my winter rant in my blog from last year, which has honestly helped me feel a little better about having to mow the lawn in the rain once a week instead of shoveling the snow in the middle of a blizzard multiple times a day for a week. 

Re-reading that rant of mine not only made me grateful for the calm, predictable weather we have in Gig Harbor, but that seed of gratefulness seems to have bloomed into a Christmas-spirit-filled flower. I’m still depressed as hell and miss everyone so, so, so much. But, at least I’m no longer literally the Grinch. 

Before that seed of Christmas spirit was planted, I was not at all cheerful. I glared at my mom and little brother when they pestered me to get the Christmas tree and box of ornaments off one of the highest shelves in the garage. I finally agreed to do it, but only if I wasn’t forced to put the thing together or help decorate it, and could instead drive myself down to downtown Gig Harbor and go for a walk. They agreed. 

While they danced to cheerful Christmas music, wore Santa hats, brewed tea and hot chocolate, and set up the tree, I went to town to walk around the harbor. It was a nice walk until the heavens opened up above me when I was nearly a mile away from the Xterra. I returned home shivering, soaked, and even more upset than I was when I left. I feel like there’s a metaphor in there somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. 

Anyway. 

While I was sprinting to my truck, my head down against the sideways rain, I totally missed the all the Christmas things being setup throughout town. During the walking portion of my walk, my mind was completely elsewhere, and I was listening to . I didn’t notice the Christmas lights strung around every building and boat in the harbor, or the herd of white light reindeer “grazing” in the park, or the wreaths hung on nearly every door and car grill, or the nativity scene set up at the base of a Griswold-sized Christmas tree in the center of town. I was totally oblivious (and arguably immune) to the Christmas spirit of Gig Harbor. 

But, I couldn’t ignore it forever. Within a couple of days, my mom and little brother had almost the entire house decked out in boughs of holly. And Christmas lights, and Christmas garland, and Christmas birds, and Christmas stockings, and of course, Christmas trees. Yes, multiple Christmas trees. My mom also needed my help fixing the nativity scene, as it had been kind of jostled during the move. Luckily, we didn’t lose any important figures, but I did have to glue Joseph’s hand back on while my mom laughed at the ridiculous sentence, “We have to glue Joseph’s hand back on!” for a solid ten minutes. I still was anything but joyful, but my mom managed to get me to chuckle a bit.  

Then, about a week later, Mom and I headed to town in search of take-out. We forgot all about getting dinner when we turned onto the road that followed the harbor itself. Everything was brightly and cheerfully lit with Christmas decor. Every building and tree was glowing with light. Holly and Fir branches decorated every post and sign. A nativity silhouette stood at the base of a large Christmas tree surrounded by candy canes and reindeer. But, what caught my eye the most were the boats docked in the harbor, each decorated in twinkling Christmas lights of all colors. We had to pull over so I could run around town and get a few pictures… In the pouring rain of course!

Now, why, out of all things would boats decorated for Christmas intrigue me the most? Well, I’m a Coloradan! I’ve never seen a Christmas boat before, let alone an entire harbor filled with all sorts of Christmasty boats! So, of course I was most attracted to the thing I’ve never seen before. 

Speaking of Colorado…