Last week, while washing out my Tupperware in the office’s break room, I mentioned to reporter Rebecca how I’ve known Christmas is coming up, yet I could hardly believe it was next week. She then said something that completely explained that phenomena: We at the paper have been covering Christmas-y things for so long that Christmas just feels like a marathon now, not a sprint.
I’m not sure if that makes sense written out, but it makes sense in my head.
Here are pictures from pretty much all the Christmas-y assignments I’ve had, starting in… November! I also covered at least three — maybe four? — retail/business stories focusing on Christmas shopping, so I’ll spare you most of those, too. (Whew. End-of-year holiday coverage truly is a marathon.)
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. An apatosaurus-like dinosaur is one of many lit-up attractions at Christmas Magic for the 2013 season. Christmas Magic, which opens the day after Thanksgiving, is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Rocky Ridge County Park. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Greater York Dance students Katie Harper and Jennah Motter perform as harlequin dolls as Morgan Strathmeyer plays another doll in a dance sequence from a party scene from “The Nutcracker” at the Capitol Theatre during Light Up Night on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. York City hosted its annual Light Up Night throughout downtown, with events culminating in the arrival of Santa Claus in Continental Square. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. York Revolution mascot DownTown greets Rodney Yeaple as he plays Christmas tunes on the bagpipes while approaching Continental Square during Light Up Night on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, in York. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Faith United Church of Christ member Pete Perez puts the finishing touches on his 10-year-old son Aaron’s shepherd costume before participating in the church’s first live nativity program on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Christina Abel, 6 of Jackson Township, picks out a poinsettia for her mother as she shops with her grandmother Sherry, not pictured, in Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in West Manchester Township on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. With three snowfalls in a week’s time, both shoppers and stores are being affected by the weather. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Brothers Carlos and Jorge Montalvo, along with Carlos’s daughter Karla, beat on las plenas (drums) as they and other relatives sing traditional Puerto Rican, parrandas-style Christmas music in Carlos’s living room on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2013. Jorge Montalvo and his brother Carlos came to York from Puerto Rico about 14 years ago, and have since lived in the city with their families. Every Christmas, their 12 other siblings and other relatives fly up from Florida, Puerto Rico and other areas to celebrate the holiday in a hotel ballroom that they rent to hold more than 100 people. The Montalvo brothers and their families also regularly gather at least twice a month for large family dinners featuring traditional Puerto Rican food. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Sister Ana Luisa Sanhueza plays the guitar as she and others lead parishioners in worship during mass while celebrating Las Posadas in a York home on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. Parishioners of the Church of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in York participated in one of nine nights of Las Posadas — a Latino pre-Christmas tradition focusing on the journey of Joseph and Mary — at the house of Vicente and María Reinoso in York. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
© 2013 by The York Daily Record/Sunday News. Santa Claus, played by Elmer Baker, opens up his bag in veteran Ryan Walton’s York Township living room as Walton’s son Ayden, 3, watches shyly on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013. With the help of Santa and Mrs. Claus, CJ Hoffman and her nonprofit Feed the Vets Red Lion delivered an early round of Christmas presents, grocery gift cards and food to Walton’s family. Walton, who served in Iraq and was at Fort Hood at the time of the 2009 shooting, is currently hospitalized for renal failure and disintegrating spinal discs. Chris Dunn — Daily Record/Sunday News
Next up… my “Best of 2013” post.
Maybe.
After all, I didn’t get around to my “Best of 2011” until February 2012.
Words and Light 
Love these photos!