The lighting of the tree

Many years ago I got this cute little Charlie Brown tree.  I don’t even
​remember where I got it.  It has about 6 branches sticking out and came with one red bulb.  I have always thought it was so cute, so I put it out every year.

Last night when we went under the bridge, Tommy asked if I could take the tree and a string of battery powered lights, so I did.  We are only serving sack lunches until after Christmas, so we are in and out pretty quickly.  

We got there last night before the food truck so it was pitch black.  I noticed that some of the people were back, who had been camping down there when the city demolished their camps.  No one had a campfire (yet) but I saw several flashes of flash lights every now and then.  It looked so sad and lonely.

After the truck pulled in and we got the lunches, blankets, sox, candles, matches and toiletries unloaded, everyone got into line to wait.  We didn’t have a sound system since we would be in and out quickly, so Tommy yelled that we were going to have the official “UNDER THE BRIDGE LIGHTING OF THE TREE 2020.”  He had everyone count down from 10 and I pushed the button on my little string of lights.  Then we sang “Joy To The World.”

I wish all of you could have been there to see the change on everyone’s faces when we lit that pitiful little Charlie Brown Tree!  Even with the pole lights we take down there, when you are in line, it gets darker the further you go down the line.  When I hit the button, it seemed to light up everyone’s faces.  Where there had been sad looks before, everyone was smiling and even laughing out loud.  They all participated in the singing and several wanted a hug from me.  (Yes, I still hug people.)

After the lighting I sat the tree on the food table so that everyone could enjoy it as they got their food.  One guy looked at me with a big smile and said “I love Charlie Brown!”

What a night!  When I walked back into my warm, cozy house to all the Christmas lights and decorations I thought, this is pretty, but I wouldn’t have missed the official “UNDER THE BRIDGE LIGHTING OF THE TREE 2020” for all the fancy decorations in all of the fancy houses in the world.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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