Missing Christmas

Buena Vista, CO

The drive was unusually picturesque, and long. Normally, the drive on US-24 from Leadville to Buena Vista, CO is a postcard waiting to happen. However this particular day of December as the snow fell in a winter wonderland fashion, it was enough to slow it down for caution and to appreciate the metaphoric magic of the atmospheric phenomenon. The drive was slow, and yet not drudged. The highway finally flows and cuts through the small town laid at the foot of Mt Princeton. The scene never gets old. We slowly arrived to the only stop light in town, to discover that Main Street was closed. It was the Christmas Celebration day in BV. Local merchants decorate store fronts with lights and wreaths; the city dusts off the city decorations, hangs them on the light posts; indeed City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style were filled with the Children laughing, people passing meeting smile after smile; all you need is Bing Crosby singing in the background to complete the picture.

The festive atmosphere was contagious. We drove home and changed into something warmer, and took the short walk from our apartment to Main Street. The snowfall was now light; just perfect for a walk in it. There was enough snow on the ground that in the silence of the afternoon you could hear the snow crackle under your feet eventually interrupted by the bustling of the street. Buena Vista, CO has in its down town area, right on "the strip" an old theater: The Orpheum Theater. An old Wooden structure, with an antique aura to it, the massive construction has a belonging-to-another-era vibe. The wooden stairs creak under your feet as you ascend to its innards, its almost like entering a cave, or a giant beast. The insulation is non-existent, so its still cold inside. Inside the Orpheum the celebration took a new light. All organizations of town had a Christmas Tree decorated in their particular fashion and had it there on display. The Mechanic Shop had theirs with mechanic theme, People's National Bank also had a tree in banking mode, and so on. On the stage, local musicians were filling the air with carols, and a small theatrical play depicting some sort of cowboy variance to Christmas; quite amusing. The display was a vivid Christmas photograph, an evergreen lit forest inside an old theater buzzing with people and festive music. It doesn't get better than that for a small town in Colorado. Even the local Jewish believers had a Hanukkah display table. Holiday Spirit at its best.

The apex of the day however was the Buena Vista Christmas Parade; the reason why Main Street was closed to traffic. After our time at the Christmas tree display, we decided to go home and get some hot chocolate, warm up and wait for the Christmas parade. At the right time we started to walk towards the parade, we could see the participants line up a couple of blocks away from our apartment. Lots of pickup trucks were disguised into parade cars; I never knew that Santa's sleigh was pulled by a Ford F-150. My wife, being the eternal photographer decided to record this moment for posterity "our first Christmas Parade". Not owning a camera at the time was not going to stop her photographic heart from accomplishing that goal. She tends to do things that she sets her mind to do, and I can't stop her, thus a disposable camera from the local City Market was the solution to our predicament.

I cleaned the accumulated snow off our 89 Accord, and waited for it to warm up, took the long route to the grocery store due to Main Street closure. I drove as fast as the winter wonderland allowed, dashed out, bought the camera, dashed back in, drove back in what has to be a max. of 15 to 20 minutes. Parked the car to a street parallel to Main, got out and felt the cold bite at my face. We rushed to the Parade. It did seem odd however that we were the only ones going towards Main, and everybody else was going the opposite direction; and as we kept on walking the hints became a reality that sunk in: we missed the parade! I thought to myself: "What a Scam of a parade!!" You mean to tell me that you people have a parade that lasts 10 minutes!?! And so here we stood on the street, cold and with a disposable camera in our hands to record a Parade that was all but done. All that effort for nothing. We were so busy trying to record the moment, that we missed the moment. So worried for the details that the apex of the day was lost.

I find it interesting that during Christmas you find distinct groups of people with vested emotions sparking, and not necessarily in the soft tones of Christmas lights. There are those that decry, denounce and wish to eradicate Christmas from Christianity due to its "pagan origins" or because in the words of the Puritans of the 1600's Christmas is: "the trappings of Popery". There are those who celebrate it in perfection with all the elements of the holiday and literally deck-out the halls. Finally, there are those who want to eradicate and blot out any Christian significance to Christmas. The skirmishes get ugly, I have witnessed.

All that effort in fighting for what? We focus so much on fighting that we obliterate the notion that Christmas is about "Peace on earth". I really have a hard time seeing how is it that all the pamphlets, videos, Facebook links and speeches against Christmas in the Christian community render the good fruit of actually paying attention to Him that is the reason for the season. I cannot seem to find the logic how in fighting to eradicate from Christmas the "Christian element" actually fosters the generosity spirit that should exist during The Season espoused by Dickens in his masterful classic Carol. Perhaps we are so focused on trying to make the perfect season, that we completely miss the season's perfection. We focus on buying the perfect gift that we miss out on thanking God for, and pondering in amazement at His gift. We become blind and ignore those universal principles of inclusiveness, munificence and unselfishness that are taught and embodied by the baby lying in a manger. We are blind to the spirit of extravagant selflessness that is portrayed by the Creator giving himself for our sake. He literally gave all as a gift for those who could not, and can not repay Him. All they can do is in awed gratitude give back the simple and yet profound gift of the heart. By the time we are done arguing, debating, fighting, fretting, paying, wrapping, cooking, and stressing quite frankly sometimes unnecessarily... the Season is gone, the decorations are down, another year is over, and you and I are left out standing in the cold with a disposable camera and no memories... again.

So don't miss the chance to share the news that"Today in the city of David a Savior is born". Don't miss the chance to share The Gift or better yet to be a gift for someone. Don't miss the chance to simply fall on your knees, hear the angel voices and just utter in gratitude "O Night Divine when Christ was born." Missing the Parade was disappointing. the next year we moved to Berrien Springs, MI. We never got to see the Buena Vista Christmas Parade. Don't miss Christmas; we don't know if we'll be around next year. Merry Christmas to all!