Christmas in Wonderland
Written by Stephanie Reynolds
Photos by Amy Kelley
“Hey!” I looked around for the voice, but I was alone on the street. Strings of Christmas lights, expertly woven, kept the dark of night and loneliness away and made the moment merry.
“Hey Friend! Here! Look up here!” I glanced above and saw that there was an extra light in the aforementioned strands. A green bulb lightly disengaged from its neighbors and floated gently in front of me. I could see wide bright eyes and a warm smile that seemed bigger than the whole light.
“Um…hello?” I say, self-consciously looking around. There was no one on the street but me, both to my dismay and relief. I was desperate to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, but glad no one was around to see me if I was.
“You look new here! How about I show you around?”
“Eh, sure…why not?” Maybe this was a dream. If so, a talking green light made a lot more sense.
“Great! Oh! Here they come!” the little light shooed me out of the street. Suddenly music filled the night and flooded the streets as cheers from hundreds, no, thousands of people joined the happy clamor.
“A parade” I whispered to myself. I hadn’t seen one since I was a kid. Somehow being a grown up meant I always was too busy with chores and very important doom scrolling to go to a parade. Oh what I had missed.
I looked eagerly as the last float came by…yep, there he was, Santa. I waved and clapped as he went by. I swear he looked me right in the eye and winked.
I suddenly realized how I must look, waving my arms like a little kid. “Ahem, well, that was very lovely” I said in as professional voice as I could muster. My little friend smiled knowingly.
“It was, wasn’t it? Let’s walk a bit this way.” I followed that little light for…seconds? Hours? It was so hard to wrap my head around time in this place. It was both “now” and “then”. It was old and modern. It was airy timelessness heavy with expectant moments. As we walked, brightly lit Christmas trees paved our way and sparkled across the landscape. Across a valley, down a holler, up the road I could see more groves of illumined firs and pines.
I started noticing the bright conifers give way to old oak trees reaching their branches up to the sky for stars to rest on. Little white fences seemed less to keep strangers out and more to be the first hug of a family, their hospitality reaching far past their front door. I felt achingly at home.
In this contemplative moment, I heard low strains of Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel gently brush past my ear, bidding me to follow. My little companion said nothing to break me out of my reverie, and we both ended up on the steps of an old brick church. Again, time was both relative and meaningless. I am not sure how long we were there, but at the last note of Silent Night, I knew it was time to go.
“It’s Wonderland, isn’t it?” I ask my little glowing friend. “Like this is the North Pole or something, right?”
He looked at me thoughtfully. “I think that’s for you to answer. Let me show you a few more places as you think about it”
“No, I know it is! Look at the snow!” I bent down to pick up some light snow on the side of the path, but it wasn’t cold, it was soft and sort of billowy.
He chuckled, “Let’s get something to drink, you look thirsty”. Immediately I could smell apple and cinnamon and clove. A sweet young elf handed me a cup of warm cider, aromatic and soothing.
“Now try mine!” another elf said from a few steps away. I blinked and saw elves of all kinds gleefully handing out cups of cider to other smiling travelers.
“You’re supposed to vote for your favorite” my guide whispered to me.
“I-I don’t think I can! They all taste so good.” I nodded to another elf as I gratefully accepted the cup.
The unmistakable sound of drums and trumpets grew. “Another parade?” I said to my guide.
“Oh we love parades here! Our friends and neighbors take turns being in parades or cheering parades. It bonds us.” I admit I was envious of such a warm place that took the time for parades and singing and cider.
“I could stay here forever!” I said.
“Maybe you could.” My host said genially. I paused a moment.
“But I have to go home first, I know. I wish I could wrap this experience and bring it back to my family, it was too wonderful, and they’ll never believe me.”
My friend brightened “Oh! I can help with that! Let’s get some gifts for you to bring home. Follow me!”
“Santa’s workshop?” I said. He chuckled. “No, even better.”
Time passed and I stepped out of the last shop with my arms heavy laden with perfectly wrapped gifts. My guide walked me to the edge of the valley and we stopped.
“It’s time for me to go” I said almost plaintively, looking toward the dark road that lead to my regular life then back to the brightly sparkling valley from which I had just come, “But I don’t want to.”
“Um, you know you can come back anytime you want.” my guide chuckled.
“Really?”
“Of course! Where do you think you are that you can’t come back?”
“Uh, I still think North Pole. Like this is what Christmas in Wonderland is.”
“No, friend, this is Christmas in Limestone County! Come on back anytime!” He spun around my head a bit, “I’ll leave my light on for you”. He laughed then off he flew.
Dear Reader,
Christmas in Limestone is real! Please allow us in the Chambers of Athens-Limestone County and Ardmore, Athens Mainstreet, and the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association be your little lights to guide you this merry season!
“Oh we love Parades here!”—Ardmore (Dec 1 at 6:30), Athens (Dec 4 at 6:00), Elkmont (tbd)
“Yep, there he was…Santa!”— Athens (November 20), Elkmont (tbd), Ardmore (tbd)
“Across the valley, down the holler…groves of illuminated firs and pines” Our Tinsel Trails!—Athens (November 20), Ardmore (Dec 5 at 5:30), Elkmont (tbd)
“You’re supposed to vote for your favorite”—Main Street Sippin’ Cider Festival (Dec 13 from 3pm to 7pm)
“To feel achingly at home”—Mooresville Walking Tours (tbd), Carols in the Old Church
“Arms heavy laden”—Shopping! There so many options in Athens, Mooresville, and Ardmore! Support Small Business every chance you get this Holiday Season!
