One thing I miss about my old hometown of Tarpon Springs is the Christmas lights. Every year, the city put lights on all of the telephone poles running the length of Tarpon Avenue. From US 19 to the head of the bayou, every few feet would be a Christmas tree, or a cross, or some other symbol of the holiday. Once you arrived in downtown, the trees lining the antique shops would be strung with white lights. And when you reached the stop sign at the head of the bayou, you could look across the water to see a huge Christmas tree.

On Christmas Eve, luminaries would be placed along the entire bayou, and they would be lit at dusk. We always loved to see them on our drive home from Mass at St. Ignatius of Antioch.

I’m a little homesick for Tarpon Springs right now.