Last night Mike and I went with some friends and rode the Great Falls "Twinkling Trolley." Basically, this was a tour of various neighborhoods in the city and their Christmas lights and decorations.
Sadly, I didn't take any photos that night, so I will do my best to paint you an accurate image. Picture a trolley (circa...1970?) decorated with icicle lights, lighted reindeer, and angels on the exterior, with sparkly garland and jingle bells on the interior. The driver (We couldn't remember her name, so Allie and I referred to her as Christmas Carol.) was about 75, which is totally awesome, and she claimed she could turn the trolley on a dime, which I found hard to believe. Well, handling the trolley was no problem for Carol, which is admirable, since in some of those subdivisions the roads were pretty icy and hilly, but obeying traffic laws was an issue. I think we flew through at least 5 red lights.
Carol's been in the trolley-driving business for 16 years, making her THE authority on Great Falls Christmas decor. As we made our way around town, Carol was not only able to point out the various displays, but also mention the ways in which the display had changed from years past. She was also not afraid to share her opinion on people's decorating choices. Examples:
"And here on the right we see a beautiful display...and there's a nasty old Grinch in the yard that's new this year."
"This house is displaying blue lights this year. In the past, they have always decorated with white. I think I like that better."
"Don't you wish you would have invented icicle lights?"
"Reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh...headed skyward."
When viewing a religious display: "This family wishes that you Keep Christ in Christmas." Long pause. "They got it right."
Carol also hung her head out the window several times to (yell) compliment homeowners on their decorations.
To add to the fun, there was a little old lady sitting behind Mike and I who, in her little old lady voice, said "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, how beautiful" to every. single. home. Even if it was the gaudiest thing ever, or had only one strand of lights, it received praise which was really funny to us.
Carol also played music during the tour, through her own boom box. She had several tape cassettes that required changing throughout the ride, so it was comical to see her steer the trolley with one hand while not looking at the road, but instead study her tape cassette to make sure she was inserting it on the correct side. She then proceeded to sing along in a high-pitched soprano voice. Oh Carol. The little old lady behind us sang too.
So funny as this thing was as a whole, it totally got me in the Christmas spirit. I thought I was before, but now I feel so...excited. I want to deck out my entire home with lights and sing Christmas songs all day long. I want to dress Crockett in an elf suit and make a gingerbread house. I want to bake cookies and keep the tree lights on all day. I want to drink hot cocoa and watch Elf.
Who knew that all it would take would be a little Christmas Carol and her whimsical trolley?
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