Cinderella meets her match

We walked out of the tent and into the cold winter air. My 5-year-old son did not even notice the chill. He grabbed my coat sleeve and tugged. I looked down and saw the grin was still on his face. “Daddy,” he said, “she’s beautiful.”
And so began my son’s fascination with the Stone Mountain Snow Angel, a lovely young woman with whom children can have their picture taken. In fact, he was so fond of the Snow Angel that she has dethroned Cinderella as his No. 1 crush, a spot she held for two years. (Cinderella ascended to the top spot at Disney two years ago when, during a photo op, Parker and his perma-grin decided he would be quite content staying there hugging the princess.
We went to Stone Mountain for Thanksgiving to visit my inlaws. On the Wednesday before, we decided to head to the big ol’ hunk of granite to take in its Christmas display, which includes roughly 48 trillion lights and gobs of Christmas-related entertainment. Some would argue that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is not, in fact, Christmas season, and would then go on to make the never-before made point that “Christmas season just keeps starting earlier and earlier each year,” and then spin the memories back to a simpler time – a time when Christmas apparently began around 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
For me, Christmas can be year-round. I’m a big Christmas nerd, and can’t wait for the season to start each year. Even when stuff starts going up in the stores around October, I find it not a reason to harumph the early start, but rather to chastise the other holidays for not being nearly interesting enough to hold their own month. And you call yourself a holiday, Halloween!?!?!? (Yes, I know that I wrote a while back that Christmas music cannot be sung until after Thanksgiving. That still holds true, but the decorations can stay up all the time. Hypocrite? Yes. Yes, I am.)
When we arrived at the park, it was clear they had the place dressed to the nines with lights. It was like a little winter Vegas. Lights. Everywhere. To show you what a Christmas nerd I am, as I stood in front of the illuminated entrance, I realized that I had pretty much left my entire family several rows back in the parking lot. Hey, Christmas might start without me.
Eventually, I took a deep breath and vowed not to abandon my family any more. Inside the park are restaurants and shops, and the pathways were all light-lined. We strolled a little ways in, trying to figure out which of the myriad of activities to take on first. And when you’re in a decision making pinch, there is one tried and true solution: Ask Mrs. Claus.
As we stood there looking at a map and generally appearing lost, Mrs. Claus just happened to be strolling by. The kids stared at her and back at us. Mrs. Claus greeted the kids and paused for a quick picture. She then said, “You probably want to head that way,” pointing to a side path, “and see Santa and the Snow Angel.” She leaned into my wife and whispered where the best spot to watch the fireworks was. Insider trading from Mrs. Claus. Nice.
Indeed, Mrs. Claus had guided us wisely, as we were in no time visiting with the Snow Angel, and then with the big man himself. When my daughter informed him that she would like the whole family to get a Nintendo Wii, Santa said that he had received that request quite a bit, and that his elves were having to put in a lot of time in the electronics workshop to fill all of those requests.
Toward the end of our visit, we prepared for the fireworks show, staking out a spot just where Mrs. Claus had directed us. The Snow Angel was going to make another appearance, we were told, which made the fact that Parker was two hours past his bedtime irrelevant, as there would be no fussing as long as the Snow Angel was coming back out.
Parker was perched on my shoulders when a bright light appeared above one of the buildings. And there she came. Flying. Yes, the Snow Angel can fly. Or, as Parker said, “And she can fly!?!?!?!” Not only did she fly, but she made it snow, too. Snow Angel – she’s practically a superhero?
As the Snow Angel wrapped up her snow-producing flight, the fireworks show began. Everyone turned their eyes to the mountain and the huge bursts of color. Well, everyone but Parker. His eyes were on the Snow Angel. He saw her zip to the other end of the park, and then descend down behind a fence, I guess heading off to her snow castle. Cinderella, you might want to start flying lessons.