It’s December. When winter marks the beginning of the holiday season. Okay, we don’t have winter here in Southern California. What we enjoy is a subtle change in the weather starting in October… a gentle slide from summer into Autumn. We might have some rain, when everything turns green and misty and the birds huddle in the dripping trees.
Autumn seems to run from November through February. Our nights cool down from summer highs, days become crisper, the sky bluer and the leaves spend the next three months displaying fall colors. When we enter the woods, we become leaf peepers!
During the holidays, we do not get that wintry wonderland, no snowy, icy weather. (Yes I know, we can drive to the mountains above the LA basin, a short 12 to 20 miles, to see that white stuff.) But we do know how to celebrate and decorate.
The biggest holiday exhibition comes with the Festival of Lights at the the square block that is the Mission Inn in Riverside. Every year, the Inn is festooned with lights and decorations.
A Word to the Wise: It is worth a visit during the
daytime, when the dark of night and the glare of holiday lights do not mask the cheerful building decorations. It might be less crowded too.
At the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, cities like Claremont and Pomona host a number of holiday events:
And in Claremont:
- Holiday Promenade, 5pm to 8pm in the Village, December 5, Friday.
- Holiday Art Walk, 6pm to 9pm in the Village, December 6, Saturday.
- Luminaria Nights, 6pm to 9pm, in the California Botanic Garden, Dec. 5 & 6, 12 & 13, 19 & 20.
Many cities in the Inland Empire (eastern LA and western Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) host tree lighting ceremonies, parades and community parties. Even neighorhoods, like Alta Dena, where the whole town suffered from a devastating wild fire, the Christmas lights will go on.
Check out your city’s website, look them up and enjoy!