There’s a Christmas tradition shared across Tucson, and it happens right around the corner from our condo. When people ask us where we live, we say, “Next to Winterhaven,” and everyone says, “Wow! Have you been there at Christmas?” because it’s the place to be.

Winterhaven is an old neighborhood of single family homes on quarter acre green lawns, shaded by enormous pine trees, flowers and birds and most of all quiet. But that’s not what makes Winterhaven famous in Tucson.

It’s in the homeowner covenants if you live in Winterhaven that you will go all out decorating your house for Christmas, and boy, do they! There’s a superlatives contest. Thousands of people make their way through the neighborhood, collecting candy, taking pictures with Santa. And a lot of people park down the block and ride a train of uncovered Conestogas pulled by Wranglers through the neighborhood. (In fact, it makes getting home kind of a nightmare after dark in December!)

What I didn’t know, until I was biking through Winterhaven on my way home from school today, was that the electric company not only is a major sponsor of the Winterhaven festival of lights, they hang the lights in those enormous pine trees with two dozen cherrypickers!