Christmas time will officially get under way here in our North Collin Corridor this weekend when Melissa and Van Alstyne roll out their annual Christmas parades and other assorted holiday activities.
You can bring in the season Saturday morning with Melissa's parade and the second annual Race with Trace, then bring in the crisp evening with another parade, a music program and a downtown lighting ceremony in Van Alstyne.
Next week, you can take in Anna's parade and then take part in the city's new branding campaign.
I have said numerous times that holiday events are my favorite aspect of living in a small town, and the towns here in the Corridor do it up right.
The Anna-Melissa Tribune once again will feature photos of the best Christmas lights displays in Anna and Melissa, so don't hold back with the decorations.
The winners will be published at the end of the month.
On a related note, I'm fairly certain that the tree in my house was assembled by about seven minutes after midnight last Thursday. Yes, I live with a Christmas Crazy.
Since we're now in the Christmas mood and all, here's a brief primer for those of you looking to augment your holiday experience with some quality theme music:
Good: Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Handel's "Messiah", "Carol of the Bells" and Kristin Chenoweth's "A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas".
Decent, but Don't Overdo It: Mariah Carey, Elvis, Charlotte Church, "Santa Got Run Over by a Reindeer", Twisted Christmas, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", Trans Siberian Orchestra (Note: Rodney Hays disagrees vehemently with the inclusion of TSO here -- he said a more appropriate category would be something along the lines of "Perfect for Deaf Listeners" or "Only if You Want your Ears to Bleed Profusely").
Don't Go There: Jessica Simpson, any boy band, Smashing Pumpkins (I love the band, but jolly they are not), and any Christmas song that exists for the sole purpose of making people cry about dying mothers, abused children or dads passing out drunk under the tree.
One of the numerous local Aggies asked me earlier this week what I thought about A&M's freshman- and sophomore-laden team taking Texas to the limit on Thanksgiving night.
Under just about any normal circumstances, I am a sucker for tradition -- I firmly believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
That being said, I am ready for the Texas/A&M game to be moved to any day other than my favorite holiday -- the stress is getting to me now even when Texas wins. Right after the Aggie kicker missed a field goal to effectively end A&M's chances late in the fourth quarter, I looked down and noticed my dinner, which had been sitting next to me, untouched, for about three hours. That is not a tradition I want to start.
We're talking about Thanksgiving food here, people. This is getting out of hand.
Yes, Nebraska scares me.
"The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jeremy A. Corley is the managing editor of The Anna-Melissa Tribune and the Van Alstyne Leader.