Who can resist Christmas lights? Even the snarliest curmudgeon must find a little pleasure in the colorful nighttime announcement that Peace on Earth is possible, and this year there seems to be more lights adorning houses and yards in this area than ever before.
It’s a scene not to be missed, so if you haven’t seen the area at night yet, pile friends, relatives and kids into the car and take a slow drive through the streets to see the heart-melting scenes that are better even than cell phone conversations. Austin has its Trail of Lights, visited by thousands of people nightly. We have it right here, and without the traffic.
If you’re in Kyle, start with Center Street. First the Old City Hall and grounds, and then out Center Street toward Wallace Middle School, checking out lighted yards along the way. Just across from Wallace, every house is better than the others, soft lights, bright lights, manger scenes, and someone even found lavender bulbs to give a very different, and serenely beautiful, look to the yard. Then go back and criss-cross town. Turn on any street – they’re all quiet in the evening – and watch for lights announcing beauty ahead.
But wait! You’ve barely started. Now drive north on Burleson Street and turn into Meadow Woods. Drive along the main street, and slowly, to enjoy houses and yards adorned with lights, ornaments and yard figures. Down the side streets there are more, all quietly announcing that Christmas is near. It’s the quietness that makes the lights even more striking.
At the far end of Meadow Woods, you will enter Plum Creek, noticeable when you come to the first roundabout. Turn right at this turnabout onto Hogan, go one block, and turn left onto Fairway. Now you’ve come to the show not to be missed. What happened to these people? Overnight they all turned into artists, outlining rooflines, windows and doors with multicolored lights that splash down into decorated yards: a Santa in his sled, a half dozen trees ablaze with color, beyond them a softly lighted mother and child, shepherds in the background. House after house glows in the silent night, and not only on Fairway. If you’re brave enough to chance being lost on winding roads, every street turning off Fairway leads to more color, more lights, more unique designs.
And the best is still to come. Should you be able to find your way out of Plum Creek before sunup, make your way to its west entrance on FM 2770 and go north. Just past Jack C. Hays High School, turn into Mountain City Oaks, on your left coming from Kyle. Now hold your breath.
This is an indescribable sight, so there’s no use trying to describe it. Wander through the quiet streets, all of them, to find wonderlands invisible from busy 2770 in front of this community. If you have time to see nothing else there, don’t miss driving by Live Oak Court, a cul de sac that’s a brilliant display of the season’s spirit.
From Mountain City, travel on to Buda, which has its own trail of lights in Stagecoach Park. It’s definitely worth a walk-through. Its neighborhoods are also filled with beautiful decorations so you won’t be disappointed.
It’s Christmas. “Holiday Season” is currently the more politically correct term; but Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and people of every other faith and non-faith can surely agree that it’s a fine thing to set aside a time to celebrate hope, and to acknowledge all our wishes for peace, good will, and beauty. A Merry Christmas, everyone, and may you be blessed, each and every one.
