FEATURED COLUMNIST
Christmas Then — and Christmas Now
C
By Willa Reed
hristmas is a feeling. Every December, Scotts Valley bands together to watch our town’s Christmas tree being lit, we drive down Mount Hermon Road with lights all around us as a cool, crisp winter chill fills the air. Whether we are together in celebration or apart, residents collectively feel the pure and simple joy of giving and togetherness that defines the holiday season. As a Scotts Valley native and current UCLA student, I can say that life in Los Angeles is very different from that of Scotts Valley in many ways. When I came home from college for the first time this November, the first thing I noticed when I stepped out of the car was the sharp winter smell around me. I saw leaves of vivid oranges and reds dotted along the sidewalk, people walking their dogs in knit caps and sweaters. In contrast, Los Angeles sidewalks are lined with palm trees. The days are unimaginably hot (and of course the sunsets are unimaginably beautiful). Los Angeles is by all means a city of a yearlong summer season. (For crying out loud, I see students in shorts and swimsuit tops with surfboards catching the bus down to Santa Monica in the middle of winter!) Yet all month long, Los Angeles felt festive and joyful. In 80-degree weather, I wore my Christmas socks and little reindeer earrings. I listened to Elvis’s White Christmas as I walked to class and put up tinsel and a tiny tree in my dorm room. I felt the magical unity of Christmas joy between my dorm friends and me — because Christmas is not just a season, it’s a feeling. When I flew home for my school’s
winter break this year, I wore my most festive sweater and listened to holiday music in the shower. Bundled up in our warm coats, we walked around Skypark with hot chocolate in our hands, admiring the red and green lights that illuminate our neighborhood, greeting neighbors and joking about how spoiled we are that 60 degrees seems “freezing.” To make the season even sweeter, my dad and I volunteered at a food bank where we distributed holiday meals to the unhoused population of San Jose. This feeling of unity and togetherness felt completely foreign to the 2020 Christmas season; finally once again, we were able to band together once more where people were together, eating and laughing. You could see smiles and feel the warm love of collective gratitude and giving. The indescribable magical feeling of holiday joy filled me to the brim. In the chaotic whirlwind of 2020, Christmas was the only time that Covid felt normal and happy. That year, we didn’t walk around and see holiday lights like we always do. We didn’t attend Christmas parties or make cookies with my Grandma like we always do. But then and even now, Christmas was pure happiness whether people are together or apart. It felt magical, no matter where our loved ones were or what we were doing. We’ve all had vastly different Christmases year to year. I’ve had Christmases in vastly different regions, celebrations that took place even while the world felt like it was being swallowed alive by a pandemic. “Christmas Then & Now” page 22
Willa Reed (right) volunteers at a food bank in San Jose, serving a holiday meal to those in need.
www.tpgonlinedaily.com Scotts Valley Times / December 2021 / 17
