Holidays in Alternative, Colorado. A Christmas Story

Holidays in Alternative, Colorado. A Christmas Story

I wasn’t sure what to expect from such a small town as far as the holidays were concerned. There wasn’t a lot of snow and, in fact, there didn’t seem to be much snow in any of Colorado this year, but still there was a small dusting. There was just enough to make the sidewalks a little icy and it turned cold enough to let you know that winter was getting close.

I bundled up and went for a walk. I’m not sure why I like to walk through this quaint little town, but I do and somehow I always manage to see something a little different each time. Today as I was walking, I passed by the Downtown Hardware Store. Joseph Benjamin, the proprietor of the store, was out in front putting up some Christmas lights and hanging a few other decorations on the store front. He didn’t go by Joe, just so that you know this. He insisted that everyone call him Joseph. It had been that way all of the 46 years he had been alive. He didn’t want his name shorted at all, Something about being a tribute to his great-great-grandfather. Joseph’s ancestor was the first in his family to come to Colorado in his family. Joseph decided that he would carry on his great-great-grandfather’s name and, on this particular holiday, he decided that he was going to carry on the Christmas traditions of his relative by decorating in an old fashioned way. He was even putting the stenciled snow scenes on the window of the store.

Mrs. Esther Williams walked by and had to point out a few things to Joseph, being the proper English woman that she was. At least, she came from a family who, several generations back, lived in England before migrating tot he states. But still. Esther fancied herself a proper English lady and attempted to carry on the traditions, as she saw them, that her distant family would do, although she really didn’t like the thought of such things as blood pudding. She preferred to enjoy the Christmas cakes and cookies along with the fudge that her neighbor, Barnaby Costello would bring by. Barnaby wasn’t really a person who celebrated Christmas. He didn’t celebrate much of anything, but he was lonely and enjoyed Esther’s company, so he would either bake or purchase holiday treats and wrap up a plate with plastic wrap and a bow on top and bring it by to Esther’s house. It would give them a chance to sit and talk and perhaps have a glass or two of a rum punch that Esther was so fond of making to go with the cookies.

Esther’s house was always decorated nicely for the holidays and, if he admitted the truth to himself, Barnaby enjoyed the festiveness of it all, almost as much as he enjoyed Esther’s company. So when she pointed out a few things to Joseph about his decorations, like the fact that he needed a little more holly around the door frame, he ready agreed, nodding his head as if listening tot he wisdom of the Christmas sage, and hurried off to gather a little more of the plastic holly.

I like walking through town this time of the year, because the lights are mostly the old fashioned kind, the plastic manger scenes are older and Joseph always has a few spots where the paint is missing on his cheek. Rick Jones has three plastic life-sized choir boys on his lawn, and he plays music that makes it seem like they’re singing. There are no competitions here in Alternative as to who will have the biggest and best display. The Swensens decorate in a Swedish motif. Their neighbors, the Goldsteins, put a menorah in the window. Everyone decorates modestly but sincerely as they see the holidays and each family stands out in front of their houses or businesses and they smile and stand close to each other to admire their work. Us? We just put up a tree, a few lights outside, and made sure that we had firewood to burn in the fireplace each night while we drink hot chocolate and watch the old Christmas shows on TV. Family and traditions live on in this small town, and our family will share in the diversity of those over the next few weeks.

And that’s the news this week from Alternative, CO., where people think about different things.