The look of the season

The Christmas Tree decorating contest is held each year in Black Mountain to offer donations to the Swannanoa Christian Ministries (a group of local churches) which provides a free food pantry and clothing and counseling services to our population. 

I hadn't been for a few years, maybe since before COVID. So Teresa and I went to our dear old refurbished Monte Vista Hotel where the trees were set up for a contest, you give a dollar to the tree you wish to vote for, with some kind of prize that I never figured out.

The dining room was set for some food service, with many trees lining the walls.

Each table had a real gingerbread house, and more were available next to some forks...maybe people come to eat them!

This was made by the elementary school, with a few photos of kids, but not my friend's granddaughter.

This tree had more photos of its kids.

A train set right on the tree!

A simple yet elegant, one I really liked! Decorated by...

So of course I dropped a dollar for the Black Mountain Fire Department!

This tree was our first one to look at, and our last one to get more photos of . Notice the top hat for the tree topper!

A certain white rabbit's backside!

And look who's dreaming under the tree!

Some trees would give you an ornament for a vote, or some sold different items from their trees, like art work of the season.

One of the most well done trees was kind of an installation, with snowblobs floating down. The Black Mountain Beautification Committee did a great job I think.

We really liked the Girl Scout's tree.

 

Here are some more trees...hope I haven't posted things twice!

I loved seeing these amaryllis bulbs under this tree!

And in their honor, I'm sharing this with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! 

Christmas is 9 day's away! Winter Solstice is 5 days away

Today on Open Yesterday's Pages (blog) 

The first co-ed college in America

Celebrations abound!

 The count-down towards an event...whether Solstice, or Christmas, Hanukkah, Virgin of Guadalupe, Kwanza, or the next new year beginning...this is a month of celebrations.

Yule log

Gift giving is a wonderful way to remember those we love. It can also become the root of hectic shopping. I hope we can all forget that for a moment, sigh and maybe consider how to do it more consciously. Just have in mind the person you are giving it to...imaging their face as they open that present from you. It is the season.

December 12 is the Saints Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (celebrated especially Latinos or Catholics) Her story (miracle) is how a goddess (later to be named the Virgin of Guadalupe) sent a young indigenous man to tell the new conquering religion to build a cathedral on a sacred spot where the older culture had always venerated her as a goddess. 

A friend's decorations for Christmas.

Ann Baily won the gingerbread contest in 2022 at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. "When Dreams have Wings." 

Governor's Plaza, Santa Fe NM with Holiday lights!

And speaking of holiday lights...here's one of my favorite displays in Black Mountain NC. (There will be more coming this month!)

On E. Cotton Ave in 2022...don't miss the bears! (I'm not sure what display is being given here this year, as they had major damage from some storms last year, but it is known as the Christmas House.)

Today's quote:

Magic doesn't sweep you away; it gathers you up into the body of the present moment so thoroughly that all your explanations fall away: the ordinary, in all its plain and simple outrageousness, begins to shine -- to become luminously, impossibly so. Every facet of the world is awake, and you within it.

David Abram, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology

Today's art:

Bear Quilt  she used french knots to quilt layers together..hand pieced..hand appliquéd..hand sewn and hand embroidered...Anne Francis.

Today on Open Yesterday's Pages:

Virgin of Guadalupe

and

Catch 22  and current North Carolina politics

Another fun Black Mountain fact

There's a train track that still runs east-west through Black Mountain. And sometimes you get stopped by a train. Fortunately I had my phone camera out, and was at the front of the line the other day.

Since the depot has become a shop for arts & crafts, there was no interest in stopping in Black Mountain.

This train going west had come down the mountain pass from Old Fort...and was carrying open cars full of river rocks. I don't know where they came from, nor where they were going. I was just glad it was a relatively short train!

I glanced over to see town crew members decorating the light poles with greenery and wreaths...and sometimes candy canes. They posted flags along State St. for Veterans Day last week, and they are still out.