VIENNA — As Christmas fell on Vienna last week, the city glowed with a quiet kind of celebration as area temperatures weren’t normal for winter time. In the past seven days, the average temperature was 60 degrees, according to Vichy National Weather Service that gave Vienna some unusual winter sunshine. Nevertheless, the snow arrived earlier this month and as we get into the new years, people can expect ice to be sticking to their windshield once again as temperatures are expected to drop.

Around town, the firehouse is draped in shimmering lights, Christmas trees are lit up in windows and Nativity Scenes stand steady against the winter wind. Even the quiet corners, the ones most people pass in July without a second thought feel softer, touched by the spirit of Christmas.

At night, the city feels a little like flipping through an old Christmas card. Houses shine in blues, greens and warm golds; porch rails sparkle and the lawns give way to every kind of decoration from handmade wooden reindeer to blow-mold Santas. Some displays are simple, a single wreath on a front door or a few lights tracing the roof line, but together they create that familiar glow that settles over Vienna during the holiday season.

The tradition isn’t new. Generations of families have shaped what the holidays look like here, stringing lights in the same trees their grandparents decorated or setting out the same Nativity figures.

While this year brought an unusual stretch of warm weather, the spirit of the season still pulled people outside. Even when the cold settles in and the sharp wind cuts across Highway 42, folks pause for a moment to take it all in. They linger an extra few seconds to loop past another set of lights. They slow down just long enough to admire the glow rising from a neighbor’s yard.