"Dickens on The Strand"

A Victorian Christmas festival, Galveston Island style...... that's what "Dickens on The Strand" is, and this was the weekend for it. My husband and I took our young friend C and her best friend L out there for the celebration. The weather was just gorgeous.... high in the 80s, nice and sunny, hot and breezy without getting broiled in the sun.

The girls and I dressed up as Victorian ladies... long skirts, fringed shawls over sleeveless tops so we wouldn't get too hot as we walked around. The only things missing from our "costume" were hats, but that's just as well, given the Galveston breeze. I did buy the girls sequined hairbands with deer antlers attached--- the antlers were covered with red sequins, with tiny bells jingling at the points. Whenever they moved their heads, you could hear the tinkle of the bells. They loved them, and they looked adorable--- plus it made it easy to find them in the crowd, which was my intention. Lots of food and merchandise vendors from all over the country were there today, and we had a look-see at just about all of the booths. The girls had never been to Galveston before during the "Dickens" weekend, so it was all new to them, which made it new for us as well.

There were elephants and a camel for riding, and both of the girls did that, as well as taking a ride on the Shetland ponies. I think they enjoyed getting up close and personal with the animals even more than the shopping. C is a true animal lover, doesn't matter the species... she loves and respects them all.

The "Queen's Parade" at two o'clock this afternoon was a lot of fun. We found a spot in the shade under the Mardi Gras arches, and we all enjoyed the bagpipers, the singers, the wagons, the school bands, magicians, antique-bike riders, jesters, street-beggers... and of course, the Galveston woman who looks like Queen Victoria and rides in the most exquisite horse-drawn carriage as she waves her arm without moving her wrist in the well-known Queen's wave.

Lots of fun for the four of us, and I tried very hard not to think about C not being here for next year's Dickens festival. There were a few vendors this afternoon who thought that C was my daughter. I must admit that I just smiled and didn't bother to correct them. Come to think of it, C didn't offer a correction either.

We came back to our house after Galveston, and I made hot chocolate for us all while we waited for the girls' parents to come pick them up. 80-something degrees, the air-conditioning was on in the house, and we were drinking hot chocolate. Sort of made sense, after celebrating Christmas in Galveston. They even had snow machines there-- flakes of faux-snow blowing down from the balconies on The Strand. Almost made you feel like we were back up north. (Okay, that's a stretch.... but it was fun to see.)

Tomorrow will be a relaxing day. Sort of. I've got lists of what to buy, do, bake, order, rearrange, and prepare for next weekend's Christmas Open House party. And, I've got to get out in the front yard and fix the Christmas lights.... I thought I would surprise my husband the other day by getting the little white lights arranged in the flower beds while he was at a meeting on Friday. I even put the lighted deer out in the front yard. I plugged everything in and all the lights were on and the yard looked great. Then I took Gracie for a walk and when I came back, the left side of the lights were all off. Dark as night on one side of the yard. Never fails, I swear.

I think they make those tiny white lights to last just one season, so you may as well not save them from year to year. Tomorrow, I will run up to CVS and buy a couple of packages of white lights.... and I'm going to toss out the old strands, replace them with the new ones, and I just might toss everything away in January and buy all new ones next year. Every time we have problems with the outside lights, my husband says to me "Next year, we'll be Jewish--- no lights, just a few candles.... much easier."