Hello friends and Hivers. Are we all in pace for the upcoming Holidays? Whether you are or not the feeling is certainly here. Some places the weather dictates it. Looking around seeing bare trees, harvested crop fields and feeling the cold air on your skin are indicators winter is here. The beginning of winter is also the countdown to Christmas. Almost everywhere regardless of weather holiday decorations and exhibits are displayed. A special time of year which many people consider it their favorite time of the year.
For today's article I submit my entry into #pobphotocontest hosted by @friendlymoose. I will take you on a journey of photo shots I took the last three days in 3 different cities in three different States. These include Omaha, Nebraska, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
My Entry
What you see is a tree in the Durham Museum, formally the Omaha Union Station. Back in 1931, the first tree was displayed there. I believe there were two or three years in the early seventies where one wasn't displayed because the building wasn't being used. In 1975, the tradition was renewed and continues today. It's the largest inside tree displayed in the city each year. This year the tree stands just over 40 feet tall.The tree is donated to the museum locally each year.
It's the staple of Christmas in this very exciting museum. Actually it's a great tradition celebrated every year and almost every Omahaean knows of it. I'll show you some unique displays later on in this museum. If you want to visit Santa Claus next to the tree he will be there every Tuesday until Christmas🎄
Sioux Falls
My photo journey for this competition began on Thursday night after celebrating the American holiday Thanksgiving. I decided to check out Falls Park as there are many lights, decorations and exhibits. A really windy cold night but that didn't matter many people wanted to check it out. It was setup as a drive thru display and even had themed music you can listen to by turning your radio to a certain station.
There was a parking lot adjacent to the light show at the actual falls. The traffic to get their was bumper to bumper so I opted to park a bit away from it and check it out on foot. By the time I got there I was freezing so I didn't spend much time there. I took a couple of shots but unfortunately only one turned out ok on my phone. The lights surrounding the area and within the falls turned back and forth from green to red. It was really cool to witness this for a few minutes.
Here we have a tractor all decorated with green and yellow lights. The iconic colors of no other than a tractor model of John Deere. a pretty cool display allowing us to see the tractor colors at night.
Here we have have two sets of penguins. The first two using sleds while the other two are skiing. It's really cool how the exhibit is on a hill so it gives off that vibe there doing it. It will look really amazing when the ground is covered in snow.
Hey a Christmas Winter Wonderland is not complete without a snowman. An artificial one will suffice when no snow is present. At some point this winter I will make one. It's actually snowing here today but not even close to the amount needed for a snow man.
Council Bluffs
We are at Baylis Park which is a small park in the downtown area. This park at any other time of the year is visited for its unique water fountain. About the middle of each November it is decorated for the Christmas holidays. This year it's filled with blue and white lights.
Every single tree in the park is decorated. Some have lights wrapped around them. Others have lighted snowflakes in them. I personally like the simple snowflakes designs in them.
Here we have half of a dome held up by pillars. I don't know what to call it so I will say dome pillar, hehe. Anyways it's a cool looking structure with the added lighted snow flakes. Seeing it from a distance it makes you want to go to investigate. It was neat standing underneath it and looking above.
This building is a Masonic Temple. It is not decorated but it's windows capture the reflections from the lit up park. Pretty cool free decorations, hehe.
This building is the park's town hall. Since it's not on the park's ground it gets a pass from having other colors other than blue and white.It's simply decorated which gives the older building a good look at night.
Well all the trees are decorated and so are the light fixtures that surround the park on its side walks. White and blue theme still but it's cool how the resemble candy canes.
Omaha
Well the two previous cities were all decorations outdoors. It's a coldy windy day and it's spitting snow flakes. Let's go inside and get cozy with the warmth of a heated building. Once again here is the tree but with a closer look. Everything you see now will be inside the former Omaha Union Station now the Durham museum.
What I will show you below is Christmas trees decorated with the themes of numerous countries. There is 12 in total and trees were between 3 and 4 feet. I apologize for the glares. They were all enclosed in glass.
Sweden
Poland
Philippines
Scotland
Czechia/Czech Republic
Norway
Nordic Countries
Greece
Columbia
Japan
Lithuania
Ukraine
Is your country themed tree above? Looking at them you see some of the cultures and values of each. Here in the United States you see a lot of mixed cultures and sometimes you see them on how people decorate their trees.
Doing this little bit of Christmas themed photography in these three cities was a lot fun. I'm thankful I ran across this competition by reading a friend's post.
I really appreciate you reading this far and I'm grateful for your support. Take care, stay safe and enjoy the rest of the weekend.