NO. 24 | CHRISTMAS MISSION (TX)

Mission, Texas sits low and warm along the border, where winter smells like citrus instead of pine and Christmas comes ripened by sun. Orange groves stretch out flat and confident, heavy branches bending under their own brightness. This is a place where December still hums with life, where the air carries sweetness even when the calendar says winter.

If you grew up here, you remember it by hand. Whole oranges studded with cloves, pushed in carefully at the kitchen table, juice on your fingers, spice in the air. They sat in bowls and stockings and windowsills, doing double duty as decoration and perfume. Simple. Perfect. Impossible to forget.

Christmas, Mission, TX leans into that memory. Bright citrus first, warm clove threading through it, familiar and grounding. It’s festive without being loud, nostalgic without slipping into sentimentality. The kind of scent that feels homemade in the best way.

The soundtrack matters. This candle's playlist has swing in its step and dust on its boots. Old Christmas songs that know how to smile sideways. Think Bob Wills, Joe Ely, Asleep at the Wheel. Fiddles, steel guitar, rhythm that moves like a dance floor in a VFW hall. Holiday music with a Texas two-step flair.

This is Christmas without the pomp.
Border-bright. Warm. Easygoing.
The kind that smells like home, even if you had to drive a long way to get there.

PLAYLIST VIBE: Asleep at the Wheel; Texas holiday jams