The Zilker Park Christmas Tree: The last thing a thousand spinning children see just before they bring up that funnel cake Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker

If it’s almost Christmas in the 512, it must be time for the Trail of Lights at Zilker Park, open until Dec. 23, 7-10pm every night.

There’s many old favorites, like the Where the Wild Things Are installation and Dilloville, plus a few new additions (Gary the Snail finally slithered into town). Don’t forget, there’s plenty of shuttle buses from Waterloo Park ($1 return, free for under fives) and a toy drop-off point for donations to Operation Blue Santa.

Not to throw too much of a damper on proceedings, ’cause of the look of wonderment on the faces of small children and, of course, the faces here at Newsdesk as well is irreplaceable. But since it was about 20 degrees above the normal seasonal temperature for the media and sponsor night on Friday, any chance the City of Austin might invest in compact fluorescents next year?

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.