Rediscovering home: Spread a little joy

This column is going to be different.

I don’t have any news to impart. As of last Friday, nothing had been filed in our county law enforcement cases. 

So, instead, a little (maybe more) personal history. Followed by a little praise. Then a little hope.   

My wife Cecilia, son Joseph, and I recently took a little trip across Cedar Creek, to get a couple of Christmas trees for the place. It brought back memories of doing just that with my older brothers. It feels like a privilege to have a Christmas tree from your own property. 

With 10 kids, we did not have a lot of money to throw around at Christmas, but dad and mom made sure it was special. Dad would make a big deal out of getting a tree, usually from the national forest. Mom bundled us up like the kids in the movie “The Christmas Story.”  Dad kept the tree up for a month after Christmas. 

Our tradition was to open presents from each other Christmas Eve and then Santa would visit us kids the next morning. Mom would make pizza Christmas Eve and afterward the wrappings would fly, sometimes covering the floor 2 feet high. 

One Christmas, my oldest brother, Guy, was not going to make it back. Something related to his work as an engineer for Boeing. Mark, No. 5, would have none of it and left that morning with another brother to pick him up and bring him back -- a 12-hour roundtrip, nonstop. We had to wait to open presents, much to the chagrin of the first set of grandkids to fill our living room. 

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can beat sledding down Trout Creek road on an icy, snow-packed surface with the stars bright above. A bunch of us would head up to the state line for the approximately 5-mile trip down to what I recall was the trail head to Heart Lake. (My memory has failed me in the past, and may again.) The snow transformed into diamonds on moonlit nights. No headlights needed to see down the twisty road. 

Of course, we had to race to the bottom.  It was fair game to catch a competitor from behind, grab the back of his runner, pull it sideways and send him/her tumbling down the road.  (No one was ever hurt as we were all well-padded). 

Great to see the Christmas lighting ceremony downtown, and the decorations, both public and private.  It means so much to the spirit of a place to have events like that  But they take effort and deserve our support.   

Honesty requires that I admit at not being the greatest over the years in keeping in contact with close friends. Life always seemed to be sweeping me along. Now I am retired and no longer have that excuse.  So, I am going to do something I have never done – send Christmas cards. The cards will include a personal note to each of my friends.  They are long overdue. 

So, now for my hope, a hope that each of you will take the time this holiday season to express your appreciation for someone else – a friend, a family member whomever. Spread a little joy in this season that is all about rejoicing.