I love Christmas Lights.  At this time of year I love to see them as we travel around at night.  Up until a couple of years ago it was always a treat to tromp through the snow, inhaling the crisp wintry night air while admiring the lighting displays.  And lets not forget that I usually managed to wait until the coldest, windiest day to put up the lights!

For the last two years the snow has been absent.  Viewing Christmas lights in the desert is different but no less enjoyable.

So I thought it would be appropriate, on this Christmas Eve, to share some of the light displays I saw this year.

It started with “Wildlights” at The Living Desert in Palm Desert.  Each year they string thousands of lights and open up to the public in the evenings.  This was our second year attending and it was as much fun as last year!

A week or so later our community kicked off the Holiday Season with the annual Golf Cart Parade.  Decorated golf carts, complete with strings of Christmas Lights parade through the streets.  Its wonderful to see the creativity that has gone into decorating the carts.

That night was also the night I officially turned on my humble display.

The Mission Inn in Riverside California has become famous for its annual display of lights.  One evening in mid-December we visited the inn to enjoy the view.  Promptly at 5:00 pm hundreds of thousands of lights lit up the night in multi-colored splendor.

On this special evening, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous, but most importantly peaceful New Year!