A Christmas walk on a quiet night

We're nearly to Christmas, and I realize that I have not blogged all through December! It has been a very busy month for me. That's not to say that I've been going too many places, since I haven't. But preparing for Christmas and learning some new things has kept me busy as usual. 

I do have some photos to share from a night time trip to my local village. This is the same village you saw in my Halloween blog post with the jack-o-lantern display. Now you'll get to see it dressed up for Christmas. 

I definitely did not have to worry about a crowd during my walk! In fact, the scenery was bordering on eerie for me. I'm one of those people who doesn't mind wandering alone outdoors one bit and enjoys the quietness of night, but there were a few moments for me on this outing that were a bit spooky!

These carolers are usually part of the spookiness, because in the past they've been uplit by green lights. I guess they were alright this time. 

I thought this scene was pretty. The festive party lights looked neat with the Christmas decorations. You can see a bit of that Santa statue from behind. He's just taking in the view.

The Village Hall:

Remember that Norman Rockwell sculpture? It looks like someone found him a holiday hat.

You might remember that shop with the kites and yard spinners. They had some cute ones out for Christmas. I just now noticed the lantern with the pinecone on top! There are a lot of details going on this one.

I really liked the candy cane effect someone made by wrapping these pillars in what I assume is red tape.

More of those fun string lights! I'm looking at this photo and feeling like there should be some sort of party happening under those lights, but I was very much alone. It was a festive atmosphere, anyway.

I peeked into some of the closed shops to check out their displays. 

I remember this collection being donated or at least temporarily loaned by someone in town. I recognize this Christmas village from when it was displayed in the Village Hall. I wonder if they ran out of room for it. I think you're seeing it in the Historical Society here.

This is some collection, hey?

You guys will probably remember this gazebo. The last time you saw it, there were rows of lit up jack-o-lanterns on bleachers in front of it.

Well, this time there was a whole "forest" of cut trees lining the walkway to the gazebo. They were for sale, although there was no one there to sell them. I was surprised to find myself completely alone in a fairly unlit area.

As I walked the path to the gazebo, I found myself looking left to right checking if anyone was hiding between the trees. They totally could have been and that would have given me a scare! A wicked little part of my brain even thought for a second about how easy it would be to step between the trees and scare the heck out of the next person who walked that path. But even if I had wanted to waste my night freezing my butt off and waiting for some poor person to walk by, well... it would have been a long wait. No one was there. 

Looking up:

Once I made it to the gazebo, I stood there feeling quite peaceful. It really was serene in that quiet winter way. Eventually, I had to turn around and walk that tree-lined path again. 

I even considered for a moment that a raccoon or squirrel could be hiding between those trees. That would be bad enough. It might sound funny, but during these boring times I actually enjoyed feeling mildly spooked (Especially since nothing came of it). Isn't that the best kind of thrill? When there's some small sense of adventure without any real consequences. ;)

Before heading home, I took one last pic of the gazebo's weathervane. I'm not sure how much I ever noticed it, but I thought it looked good half-lit at night. The lighting probably made me notice it. That shadowy tree added something too.

Well, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I haven't been online much to see how everyone is doing, but I hope you are all doing well. Maybe you've even done something more exciting than walking around in the dark of winter hoping a raccoon doesn't jump out at you!