I must admit. I had become pretty jaded about the holidays.
When I was little, Christmas was always so much fun. There was lots of family around, hot chocolate and sweets abound, the Christmas lights still adorned most homes, and gifts under the tree were aplenty. As family dwindled, sweets lost their novelty, neighbors left and lights faded, and things to unwrap grew sparse due to age, what was left of Christmas was often just the tackless dribble of overplayed and underwhelming songs and the incessant ads on TV.
Nowadays it seems as if Halloween has barely passed before Christmas junk has gone up on stores shelves, ads become a nuisance before the end of November, and songs are now playing on the radio 24/7 before Thanksgiving. The magic of Christmas and the holidays had mostly worn off and left me wishing it could just be perpetually a season of Thankgivings instead.
And then this year, I was in Malaga.
Almost as if timed perfectly just for us, the Saturday of our Thanksgiving celebration, the grand lights of Malaga were turned on to usher in a beautiful season. Sorry Madrid and Barcelona, but you've got nothing on Malaga. The streets had been tastefully lined with stunning lights and decorations that took your breath away at every corner turned.
Then, for the next 6 weeks, the street performers changed their tunes to holiday jingles, carolers of all types went singing through the streets, and music students formed string and brass quartets, and even full bands, all to the delight of the people walking around them.
Oh and did the people dar un paseo! On any given night, provided it wasn't raining, the people of Malaga were out and about! Every proceeding weekend night, walking through the city I would swear to myself that never had I ever seen so many people out on town, and that everyone and their child, and mother, and grandmother must be out enjoying the festivities.
Last night, the final Spanish celebration for the season passed with the arrival of the Three Magi Kings. Families gather in the center of the city for the long parade through the streets. Obviously, never witnessing one myself, I didn't go last night expecting a lot. But a lot did unfold: beautiful contraptions of moving birds and fish, a flowing acrobat hanging from a tower of balloons, and then floats of children throwing out handfuls of caramelos to the little and big children lining the street, scraping the ground for them, acquiring as many as possible.
Today, a beautiful sunny day, reminded me much of Christmas mornings at home in Arizona. Running through the streets and boardwalk, I saw many of family out with the kids testing out all their new toys that the kings had brought them in their sleep. The day stayed quiet with most everything closed aside from the spare restaurant and cafe. Then later in the evening, I took a stroll to enjoy the warm evening and the last of the lights and festivities. I bought a café and un trozo de rosco, a piece of the delicious Kings' Cake, baked in the shape of a large wreath, with your choice of cream or no cream.
On my way back to the apartment, I came across a quartet and realized that through the whole of the season, not once had I actually stopped to listen to the musicians. So this time I did. And I stopped to just soak it all in and enjoy this truly festive and genuine season.
In the next few days, the lights will come down, the players will return to their traditional repertoire, and the stores will give way to sales. But in these last few weeks, I have come to appreciate and regard the winter holidays in a way I thought was lost on me. But indeed, the spirit of Christmas, and the Three Kings, lives on.
No comments:
Post a Comment