photo: whitehouse.gov
With the beginning of November comes the inevitable start of the Festive Winter Holiday Season onslaught. In today’s commercialized world, so many of us cynically mark it with the dangling of twinkle-lights dangling from the ceiling at Whole Foods and arrival of Santa Claus dog costumes in the shops.
Perhaps, however, this is the year to greet Festive Time in a more wholesome, ceremonial way: By waiting in a line staffed by government bureaucrats to get tickets so that, a month later, you can huddle with the masses trying to get a glimpse of the various VIP’s on hand to flip a switch and turn on thousands of tiny lights on a generally underwhelming Christmas tree. (Seriously, why is the National Christmas Tree always so small and unimpressive? It is the National Tree. Why is it not remotely as good as the NBC/General Electric Rockefeller Center Holiday Treeâ„¢?) Also, country music will be performed.
Tickets for the tree lighting become available Saturday November 3, at 8:00 am. Allegedly, one will need to arrive well in advance to hope of getting tickets, but having never done it I cannot say it is not just hype. They are distributed from the White House Visitors Center at 15th and E. All the information is available from The National Park Service.
Personally, I file the National Tree Lighting Ceremony under “things my parents did with me as a child that everybody should probably do once” rather than “traditions that I look forward to each year,” but that may just be me…
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
