No matter how snow-sparkled and gingerbread-housed your childhood may have been, working a retail gig at Christmastime is enough to turn anyone into a total Scrooge. I spent a good 15-plus years vending knickknacks and gift certificates to an only occasionally grateful public, and I’ve gotta say—it changed me, maybe not for the better. Yes, I’ve endured hearing A Charlie Brown Christmas on repeat hour after hour, week after week, until the Vince Guaraldi Trio became the stuff of nightmares. I’ve borne customer bellyaches about out of stock items, pawing listlessly through the back room for products I knew perfectly well wouldn’t be unearthed until January. I’ve been on the receiving end of customer jeremiads for no other reason than that—shocker—the store was really busy. And by no means did I suffer the worst of what the season has to offer. Can you blame me for feeling decidedly meh this time of year, even if it’s been ages since I had to touch a cash register? But I’m not entirely a lost cause, because one thing still has the capacity to rise above it all. One sparkling night of cheer, one public act of guileless sweetness. One word that cannot be said angrily or critically.Twinkle.You’re with me, right? Twinkle is the most cheerful word I know. Twinkle twinkle twinkle. I get giddy just typing it. Twinkle! And the point is, folks, that Albuquerque’s Twinkle Light Parade is coming and you’ve got one more day to register your floats.Choose from one of nine categories of (try “Misfit”—that sounds like a good one, doesn’t it?) and pay your entry fee (nada for government, $25 for single families and single vehicles of a non-commercial nature, $50 for nonprofits, schools and community entries, and $100 for commercial entries). Visit the city website for deets and the application—the deadline is mañana, Friday, Nov. 15. The parade happens in conjunction with Nob Hill’s Shop and Stroll on Dec. 7.
The Last Most Beautiful Thing Not Yet Ruined
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