It’s just one week till Christmas and well… we haven’t done much Christmassy things yet. “We’re going to the Christmas market this evening!” Dad announced. But Mom was cold, Brother had no intention of going out anywhere and me… well, I wasn’t so sure about going to a place we’d never gone before, one hour away from home, in the cold and pitch darkness that suddenly came upon us at only 4:30pm. But… I was up for a challenge. If we never try anything, we’ll never know if we like it or not, right? I think Dad sometimes has a hard time getting the family out the door and it must be like trying to pull a tractor out of a swimming pool. (Don’t ask me where I get my imagination!) Anyway, after some reluctance, we were off. At the same time we had to pick up our Uncle from the bus station not far from where we would go, which explains going an hour away. Although the nice Christmas markets were about that far anyway.
Dad dropped Mom and I off while he found a place to park. We entered this ambiance of music, lights, drinks, snacks and every imaginable Christmas decoration you could find. And it was beautiful! A little cold, yes, so Mom and I would occasionally walk into a store to get warmed up and check out some other cool stuff like clothes and shoes and… well, I just picked out clothes and shoes stores, hee. Mom picked out one shop, with just soaps, any and all rare shapes and smells and colors of soaps.
Dad and Mom said we could pick out a snack, any snack we’d want. There were traditional Christmas German treats or sausage meals, chocolates, spiced breads, all kinds of yummy looking things. But I already knew exactly what I wanted – a candied apple, just how I remembered it from when I was younger.
Checking out each and every Christmas stall… and… I finally saw it! There it was, waiting for me, just wanting me to pick it up and devour it in great pleasure. But wait! Do I really want that? I hesitated for a moment and then for two and then three minutes passed by and I still hesitated as I felt overwhelmed with all the other delicious looking goodies. Mom suggested we take a look around and see everything there is before we make our final decision on what we’d like. I agreed with Mom on that one. You see, she has a real hard time making decisions and sometimes I do too, so I know where I get it from. Thanks Mom (or not!) Well, these steaming potatoes and mushrooms look really good. But wait, there are some nuts rolled in dark chocolate that look even tastier. Or better yet, a crepe filled with icing sugar… Ah no! What am I going to do? I can’t decide now, after seeing all those options.
Dad stops at one stall and chooses the first thing he sees. Okay, I’ll give it a try. And how would you have guessed, that right smack by those candied apples appeared this deliciously chocolate-coated banana and strawberry stick. And that’s what I chose! And it was just perfect, even better than the way I remembered that candied apple. It’s wise to wait! But it’s also wise to make a good choice, hee! Thanks Dad and Mom for that awesome Christmas outing! Just a little taste of what Christmas will really be like.
I realized too, that sometimes what we have in mind isn’t always the very best for us. Being so stuck on one thing might cause us to miss something very special, like the Christmas outing and that amazing chocolate coated dessert. Do I make you feel hungry yet?
What is YOUR favorite Christmas treat?