Born in Boston

For many, Thanksgiving weekend is synonymous with holiday shopping. While I prefer to pass on the retail mania I look forward to the immediate post-Thanksgiving period for another reason; it means cities and towns everywhere are lighting lights and decking their halls.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like....the next installment of The Christmas Project!

Born in Boston in late November 2010, it wasn't a "project" right out of the gate. I was just going into the city to photograph the massive Faneuil Hall tree on the day after Thanksgiving. This was completely out of character: normally I steer clear of the Black Friday frenzy. I enjoy holiday displays, though, and there was a lot of hype that year around the fancy new synchronized light show (Boston Blink) at the Marketplace. It was enough to lure me in.

All it took was that single outing to get me hooked. I worked nearly a dozen locations between Thanksgiving and Christmas that year; it became apparent this could morph into something bigger.

You can hardly ask for a better place than New England to find scores of quaint holiday scenes. It's an embarrassment of riches.

Every autumn I'd research options for the approaching holiday season and map out my plan. I focused mostly on New England but branched out to include places like Manhattan and my home city (Chicago).

It was smooth sailing until I moved to the Intermountain West where The Christmas Project is a wee bit more of a challenge. There's the obvious issue of logistics: it's sparsely populated and towns are spread out. The bigger problem? Let's just say a lot of these municipalities aren't going to win awards for decorating prowess.

This has left me to broaden my horizons. I've traveled thousands of miles to keep this thing going.

Right now I'm at the first 2021 Project location and have been working here for the past few days. (A second site is planned for mid-month.) Any idea where I might be? It's in the United States - west of the 100th meridian and south of the 42nd parallel, and less than 750 miles from Idaho Falls. Looking to the south, I'm pretty sure I can see a falcon. 1,760 yards means something here.

Send me your guess!

If we were in Chicago I'd buy a Tom & Jerry's at Miller's Pub for the first person to answer correctly - but instead the winner will have to settle for bragging rights.

In the meantime, let's take a little trip and enjoy some holiday sights from The Christmas Project.

'Tis the Season!