接近圣诞，很多家庭都装点上了漂亮的灯饰，下午天黑得早，每天正好一路欣赏着回去，寒冷的冬夜，灯光带来的不仅仅是节日的气氛，远远看见自家的灯光就会倍觉温暖，窗口透出的圣诞树的灯光更是温馨。

没有两家的灯饰是一样的，有简洁的，也有工程浩大，门口灯火通明的，还有整栋屋都投射上星星点点小灯的；门口的树上、房沿，栅栏都装点上了灯光；当然，也有极少数像是随便挂上去应付一下的.......但亮着就好。

这么一比较，门口黑黑的没有任何装饰，难免会显得冷冷清清，你们绝对想不到美国的住宅区是如何的一个大农村，天一黑就真是一片漆黑。幸好有了这些灯光！

这些，全是民宅，都是热爱生活的人们。

The Story of Christmas

Each year on December 25, most Americans from a Christian background celebrate Christ-mas. Even those who are not religious the rest of the year will have a Christmas tree and give gifts.

The story of Jesus’ birth (as told by Luke in the Bible) may be familiar to you: Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, traveled to Bethlehem to be counted in a tax census. While there, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, as there were no rooms in any inn. Shepherds heard angels tell them that the son of God had been born. The shepherds visited Jesus then went to tell the world what the angels had told them. Three kings (or Wise Men), following a bright star in the East, traveled for 12 days to visit Jesus, and brought him gifts.

No one knows exactly when Jesus was born. The Bible says there were “shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Bethlehem in December is usually cold and rainy, so some scholars think Jesus was born some months earlier. For centuries, people argued about when to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The Roman Church chose December 25, even though (or because) it was the date of a popular pagan sun celebration.

Because of this pagan and Roman root, Eng-lish religious immigrants to the US in the 1600s refused to celebrate Christmas. The warm and joyful celebration of Christmas by German and Dutch immigrants, however, won popularity in the US by the early 1800s. Today, even in the southern states, the “look” of an American Christmas (with snow and evergreen trees) is clearly northern European.