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CHRISTMAS ON THE SOUTHSIDE

            Christmas starts early on the south side of Chula Vista. The lights start going up on houses a week or so before Thanksgiving.  Here on my block, my next door neighbor is always the first to put out decorations - lights, Christmas figures, and anything else you can think of that celebrates the holiday. Their Halloween decorations are a legend on the block, but Christmas, it gets even better. Some of the display is home-made, cut from plywood, painted and covered with lights.  Although we aren’t on “Candy Cane Lane”, it’s a display that puts our block on the traditional holiday cruise for folks in the neighborhood. 
Complimenting my neighbor’s place is just about every other house on the street. Colored lights, twinkling or not, bright white lit icicle lights, snowmen and reindeer lighting up lawns, Santa and his reindeer on rooftops,  trees decorated and peeking out of windows, all reminding passersby that Christmas is coming soon. 
It isn’t just the physical environment that signals the holiday. People are cranking up their fireplaces, so when you walk down the street, Christmas is even in the air. Neighbors are baking cookies and holiday treats, sending their children with plates of goodies out to friends and neighbors, spreading tasty goodies and holiday spirit. Even local taco shops do their part, posting carts out front with tamales of every flavor - everyone’s favorite thing to unwrap this time of year. 
For me, the tastes and smells are what conjures up the Spirit of Christmas Past, reminding me of Christmas seasons 35 years ago when we would walk through the neighborhood singing carols. At many houses, people would step out and offer us cocoa and treats. By the time we had ran through our repertoire, we were too full of brownies, cookies and candies to walk any further.  Most years that would mean piling into a car and heading up Hilltop Street to Kearney Street to see the over-the-top decorations that were always a Chula Vista staple at the holidays. Just like today, cars would line up, wreaths or antlers posted on their front grills, Santa hats perched rakishly on heads, and cruise the brightly lit route. 
Last night the towering tree in downtown Chula Vista was lit. People packed Third Avenue in record numbers, spotting friends and neighbors in the crowd. Children with smiles as bright as the lights on the tree, oohing and aahing, taking in all the sights and sounds of December in Chula Vista and reminding us all that Christmas is on it‘s way. That’s Christmas on the south side - ever joyful, ever bright.
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            Christmas starts early on the south side of Chula Vista. The lights start going up on houses a week or so before Thanksgiving.  Here on my block, my next door neighbor is always the first to put out decorations - lights, Christmas figures, and anything else you can think of that celebrates the holiday. Their Halloween decorations are a legend on the block, but Christmas, it gets even better. Some of the display is home-made, cut from plywood, painted and covered with lights.  Although we aren’t on “Candy Cane Lane”, it’s a display that puts our block on the traditional holiday cruise for folks in the neighborhood. 
Complimenting my neighbor’s place is just about every other house on the street. Colored lights, twinkling or not, bright white lit icicle lights, snowmen and reindeer lighting up lawns, Santa and his reindeer on rooftops,  trees decorated and peeking out of windows, all reminding passersby that Christmas is coming soon. 
It isn’t just the physical environment that signals the holiday. People are cranking up their fireplaces, so when you walk down the street, Christmas is even in the air. Neighbors are baking cookies and holiday treats, sending their children with plates of goodies out to friends and neighbors, spreading tasty goodies and holiday spirit. Even local taco shops do their part, posting carts out front with tamales of every flavor - everyone’s favorite thing to unwrap this time of year. 
For me, the tastes and smells are what conjures up the Spirit of Christmas Past, reminding me of Christmas seasons 35 years ago when we would walk through the neighborhood singing carols. At many houses, people would step out and offer us cocoa and treats. By the time we had ran through our repertoire, we were too full of brownies, cookies and candies to walk any further.  Most years that would mean piling into a car and heading up Hilltop Street to Kearney Street to see the over-the-top decorations that were always a Chula Vista staple at the holidays. Just like today, cars would line up, wreaths or antlers posted on their front grills, Santa hats perched rakishly on heads, and cruise the brightly lit route. 
Last night the towering tree in downtown Chula Vista was lit. People packed Third Avenue in record numbers, spotting friends and neighbors in the crowd. Children with smiles as bright as the lights on the tree, oohing and aahing, taking in all the sights and sounds of December in Chula Vista and reminding us all that Christmas is on it‘s way. That’s Christmas on the south side - ever joyful, ever bright.
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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