Some years it just seems easy to get into the Christmas spirit. Other years require a bit of a kickstart.
One of the methods that I employ to ease me into the Yule-tide frenzy is to make my annual pilgrimage to the Eaton Centre, right in the heart of the Canadian retail beast. This never fails to work. It's like a personal Haj for me. I come to pay homage to the rampant commercialism that drives our economy and inspires many Canadians to live beyond their means and spend sleepless nights worrying about credit card bills.
The Christmas tree at the Eaton Centre is pretty much like the Kaaba in Mecca. People tend to shuffle around it so they can get a view from all angles.
The tree is absolutely spectacular and well worth looking at. Every year the tree is decorated by Swarovski with over 10,000 of their beautiful crystals.
Photographs do not do justice to this tree. It is set up on a rotating platform, and the crystals reflect the light when it slowly turns so a still picture can't really capture the way the multi coloured lights dance all around the tree. It really is the centre piece at the Eaton Centre from mid November until January.
You can't get too close, there is a barrier in place. I suppose this discourages people from trying to nick the crystals. I do not have a clue how much all those crystals are worth, but I would imagine the value of them amounts to quite a pretty penny. I will have to look that up, so that I can inform everybody in next year's blog post.
I definitely do feel more Christmassy after looking at the tree for a while. Maybe it's the healing powers that crystals are said to contain, or maybe it's something else. Either way, if you happen to be in the Yonge-Dundas area for some Christmas shopping, why not duck inside at the Eaton Centre and have a gander at the tree. It might just give you that kickstart you need to get you in the Christmas spirit.
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