I do not remember when I last was in holiday spirit mode so well in advance of the holidays.
I'm done with my Christmas shopping.
And all my Christmas decorating.
And all my Christmas card mailings.
Now, all I have to do is enjoy this latest iteration of the holiday season til it is blessedly over with at the start of yet another new year.
On Friday I rolled my bike's wheels to the MSU (Midwestern State University) campus intending to shoot video whilst riding my bike around the perimeter of Wichita Falls Fantasy of Light Christmas theme park.
On that day the wind which blew all day Saturday had begun to blow. Hence most of the video I took that day was noisy with the wind blowing over my patented pithy commentary.
So, on this almost dead calm, almost windless Sunday, this morning I rolled back to MSU and did two video iterations. I liked the second one best, so that is the one I YouTubed which you can watch and listen to below.
But before we get to that what are we looking at in these two photos, above and below?
Well, in the one at the top, located at the far southeast edge of the Fantasy of Lights, is your basic stereotypical Bethlehem manger scene, with some wise men on camels, a couple sheep, a couple shepherds, and Mary and Joseph in the manger with their newborn. The Joseph figure looks sort of worried and angry. I suspect he had just received word America's modern era Herod had blocked immigrants from migrating from Mary and Joseph's war torn oppressive middle eastern location to the new world of America. And so the desperate young family is stuck their with their baby, awaiting who knows what dire fate at the hands of the infidels from the west.
And then we move on from that poignant scene to the next one.
What appear to be the Village People on a carousel. The explanatory signage accompanying this installation really did not explain much. All that signage says is "NUTCRACKER CAROUSEL Adopted By First Bank".
Nutcracker Carousel? Aren't the Nutcrackers in the Nutcracker ballet production some sort of toy soldier figures? Even more confusing is the Village Person in white on the left. The banner on that Village Person's back says "Texas Nurses".
Before we get to the video from today, the full text of an article in this morning's Wichita Falls Times News Record, or is that Wichita Falls News Times Record? I can never remember. Just a second I will go look...
Oh my, both are wrong. The correct name of the local newspaper is Wichita Falls Times Record News. I don't mean to be rude, which I never am, but that newspaper name is just unnecessarily convoluted, hence my confusion. Why not simply call it the Wichita Falls News and leave it at that? Or Wichita Falls Times? Or Wichita Falls Record?
Almost forgot, here is the blurb from the Times Record News about that which I biked around today...
With the flick of a switch at dusk on Nov. 20, the MSU-Burns Fantasy of Lights displays will illuminate the campus of Midwestern State University and Wichita Falls with a festive atmosphere. Almost 40 lighted displays – including Peter Pan, The Three Little Pigs and a robot blowing bubbles – will light the night.
This year, guests will get an extra treat. Workers at MSU found a treasure that hasn’t been displayed in 15 years. Hidden in a crawl space of the Hardin Building, a vintage display spells out “Merry Christmas To All” in red and green neon letters. Students at the Carrigan Center transformed the neon letters to LED lights.
The lighted animated displays take about 1,300 hours to set up and maintain. Fantasy of Lights receives no state funding or federal grants, but instead relies exclusively on the generous donations and volunteerism of the city of Wichita Falls. To keep the timeless tradition going takes the effort of generous donors like you.
The holiday light displays that burn bright on the campus on Taft Boulevard are viewed by approximately 200,000 people every year – at no charge.
And here is the almost wind free video...
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