Holiday Traditions

It seems that there are a number of deadlines floating around at the moment among the Supernatural Underground writers. I am lucky enough to have snuck under the radar. That’s not to say that I don’t owe my agent a couple of things, but I don’t have a hard deadline floating over my head like the sword of Damocles.

So in the meantime, I’m going to following along Tracey O’Hara’s recent post and talk about some of the holiday traditions that are important to my family. Now, we do the usual thing of getting together on or around Christmas, exchanging gifts, and eating way too much food, but the things that stick out in my head are the events that take place with my immediate family.

One of my favorite things to do is to attend the Cincinnati Zoo’s Festival of Lights show. It’s the only time that you’re able to walk around the zoo at night and they have every tree and shrubs covered in lights, not to mention standing displays of lights depicting different animals in flashing lights. My mother has a knack for picking either the warmest night of December – when the zoo is at its busiest – or the coldest night of December – when you are completely dependent on cups of steaming hot cocoa in order to keep from freezing stiff.

The zoo has a small train that takes riders around the park, showing off different animals and the lights display. The video below shows off some of the lights that are on Swan Lake in the middle of the zoo.




My second favorite display and considerable warmer place is the Krohn Conservatory. My family has a very old tradition of attending this place every year to see the massive tree when you walk in the door decorated by handmade ornaments. The exhibit hall has a giant music box that is made to look like the iconic places of Cincinnati, Ohio. And there is just the joy of seeing the different plants, bonsai trees, and the tall waterfall in the rainforest exhibit. Before the end of our trip, my parents would allow us kids to pick out one ornament to take home and hang on the Christmas tree. As a result, we have a fairly extensive collection of ornaments. For me, Krohn Conservatory is a peaceful place that will always remind me of family as we discover and marvel over exotic flowers while wandering through a glass masterpiece of construction.

The video I have for this place is a little old as I made it as a promotion for my book, Pray for Dawn. There is a section of the book that takes place in the Conservatory, but it still gives you an excellent look at the place.



So, what family tradition do you have over the holidays?