Time feels as if it is speeding up. It is common knowledge that this general feeling, of being behind before one has even started, takes over as one ages. Unfortunately after the lengthy siege of various forms of the pandemic, the off-balance feeling that one gets that time is snapping back and forth like a rubber band.
“How can the Christmas holiday be here already?” This one has to be the most muttered question in the grocery store or bank. This line of inquiry could be heard in stores stuffed with merchandise for all three upcoming holidays at the beginning of October, as storekeepers battled supply chain shortages. The all-time kid favorite celebration, Christmas, was soon moved to the front of display cases pushing the poor Jack o’Lanterns and scarecrows to the back of the case. A few plush stuffed Thanksgiving animals, such as Tom Turkey, peeked out from the pile of multi-colored holiday decorations.All of the delayed or postponed summer or winter celebrations in the past few years resulted in all sorts of promises to “do-it-up big” with family and friends as soon as possible no matter what. As our community held the tree lighting and parade of lights to kick off our holiday season, Colorado’s well known City of Love — Loveland — prepared to gather its volunteers to make sure they had enough hand-painted hearts for people to purchase to share their messages of love throughout the town for the annual Feb. 14 celebration. They needed to be ready for the Christmas lights to be taken down and the messages of love strung from 350 of the city’s light poles.
Town boosters and city promoters all over Colorado have been successful at growing their economy by coordinating as many events that are unique to their particular locations. Loveland’s post office has been has been remailing Valentines sent to them from all over the country for more than 40 years.
Glancing at an article in Sunday’s Denver Post featuring the efforts of the Thompson Valley Rotary Club to make sure they could fill the order for the limited number of hand-painted hearts. City engineers must inspect each one because of the extra load put on each light pole. This year they sold out in seven hours.
The use of those two words “sold out” has changed as well. Over the years, the accusations of increased commercialism and greed apparently has thinned the ranks of volunteers all over the country, yet in small towns and cities the spirit of Christmas is alive and well.
By DOLLY VISCARDI – Special to the Herald Times
