Now that I live in California, I have the nice benefit of not having to suffer through snowfall every single winter. People who have lived in sunny, warm areas all their lives say that they would love to experience snow sometime, but when they say that, I make sure they are aware that the keyword there is sometime, not every day of the winter.

Either way, it seems like, no matter where you live, people still celebrate the holidays. Now, having grown up in the Chicagoland suburbs where it pours snow every winter, I sort of associate the holiday season, lights, and Christmas trees with snow and freezing cold temperatures, and it makes me feel not so festive. Now that I’m in California where I know I won’t be seeing any snow unless I climb thousands of feet up onto the peak of a mountain, the holidays don’t necessarily have to be the equivalent of suffering. But, that association got drilled into my brain for over two decades, so it’s a little bit difficult to snap out of it right away.

People have lights set up all around the new neighborhood where I live now, as well as out in public as well. I stopped by Westfield Santa Anita yesterday, which is supposedly the biggest mall and shopping center in San Bernardino county, and decided to share some of the festive decorations here with some photographs. The quality isn’t so great because I didn’t go there until the evening and my phone’s camera doesn’t have great low light compensation, but at least you can still see the lights.