Skip to main content

Small Town Christmas

 So we stood there, my wife and I, looking at a train display in the window of a small bank, my eyes as wide as saucers as I watched the toy train chug around the track.  One of the cars had a moveable searchlight on it, and that brought back warm memories.

                My wife said something to me but I had already traveled back in time to when I was 8 years old and my brother and I were playing with a train set that took up the entirety of my grandmother’s dining room.   One of the rail cars on her train set had a search light on it too, another car had a missile that you could shoot up and into the tree; which was exactly what my brother and I were doing; trying to knock ornaments down.  

Sort of looks like me.  Even has a beer.

                Even today I swear that every Christmas packages were as high as the roof as chorales sang of old kings and new and it always snowed on Christmas day.  Memories of my father dressed up as Santa year in and year out as generation after generation sat on his leg.

                My mother asked my brother and I why we did not wish to take over for him…it was, for me at least, my father’s job.  No other person, not even his sons, would ever replace him as Santa. 

                I thought about all this as my wife and I shopped the small Mom and Pop stores near us.  We were really not looking for anything specific; we were just out enjoying the day and the sights of a small town Christmas.

              
    A little girl who probably didn’t realize how much she looked liked Cindy Lou Who was getting her picture taken in front of a Grinch display while off in the distance a high school band was playing “Silent Night.”

      Living in the middle of farmland the way we do it wasn’t uncommon to pass a decorated tractor or other piece of farm equipment.  Recently the nearby Stoneboro Fairgrounds had an event that was exactly that!  

     For the first time since my mother died last October, I felt that I had the Christmas spirit.   It’s not a bad feeling.

      I’m not a religious person; knowing all the pagan myths behind the holidays.  However far be it from me to deny anyone’s need to believe in something.  I think this desire to believe in something greater than ourselves is actually one of the defining traits of humanity. 

      After all, isn’t Christmas about family and community?    

      In some ways the “Christmas Spirit” is strong this year.  Last year everything was smaller, more confined and subdued.  It seemed like we did everything twice or three times last year as we wanted family to see our new home, but also had to make sure that everyone felt safe and secure in the visit. 

      So it feels good to mingle with strangers as we shop the small shops and share a cup of cocoa with a young Amish family.  

A Candy Display at a shop.

      Each of the small towns near us are holding similar events, but on different days which allows families to partake in as many as possible.   This time of year really is for the kids.

    It also helps that I've been involved with the local Odd Fellows, who are doing a variety of charity events going into the new year.  So maybe, just maybe this old City Mouse is enjoying the holiday season in the country.   Just maybe his heart will grow three times its normal size too.  You just never know. 

    Be sure to check out and like our Facebook page too.  Bring a little joy into as many lives as possible. 

Labels:
Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

What all the cool kids are reading.

The summer that I go to war

When I first moved into my house some five, nearly six year ago, one of the first things I noticed was that we had a tree out back that was nearly strangled by an invasive woody vine called Oriental Bittersweet.   At the time I didn't think much about it as other more pressing problems, like a new roof and insulated windows, came first.  Other problems and projects kept pushing that "little issue" back onto the corners of my mind.   Small "little issues" tend to become bigger ones.  Oriental Bittersweet That's the problem with home ownership, their is always "one more project."  One more bill. I was considering where to plant the Pawpaw and new Bur Oak   and this corner seemed to be a very good option.  That's when I noticed my problem,  I have several Multiflora Rosa growing in my "wilds" and one that somehow I've missed over the last few years, it's become rather well established.   The Oriental Bittersweet was reaching o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digging in the dirt

In a lot of ways I feel rejuvenated.  It's a glorious morning as I am driving down to Pittsburgh with the local radio station playing a mix of old and new that elevates my mood, the sun shining strong through the sun roof.   I am on my way to buy plants.   I have a list in my pocket and I expect that I'll be coming home with a few of them.  I had hoped to buy spicebush and maybe serviceberry , in addition to what I did end up buying.  As I talk to people there, I use the term " food forest " because that's about the closest definition to what I'm trying to do, although it's also not the best one.     What I'm more interested in doing is creating a refuge.  A place for a weary traveler in the future to stop, rest under the trees and have access to wild strawberries and blueberries (which sadly didn't take last year), apples etc.   A place of respite rather than a place that can self maintain itself over time, although I do...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why didn't Erie, PA develop into a bigger city?

          Recently I had to travel up to Erie, PA for business.   It's about an hour north of me and is a rather small city, having just under 100 thousand people living in it.   It played an important role in the founding of America,  - where it was the headquarters for Oliver Perry's flagship Niagara during the battle of Like Erie in the war of 1812 .            It was also a important shipping center, being Pennsylvania's only access to the Great Lakes which was the easiest way to trade with parts of Canada at the time as well as move goods to the cities of Detroit and Chicago, which in the mid to early 1800's were just starting to develop.  It was also directly north from Pittsburgh which was a major industrial city at that time.     Yet Erie never really grew beyond it's humble beginnings and I wondered why.   Like any good sleuth I turned to the intern...
3 comments
Read more