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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. 

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Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

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