Dancing Together Creates Community Magic

When I stepped out of my truck last night, the three-quarter moon cast shadows on the snow and bits of bare ground.

At first, I noticed what I couldn’t see. Shadows stole my depth perception and disguised rocks, ice and livestock. Or what might be livestock. I couldn’t tell.

Then I looked down.

Crusted snow sparkled and glittered like choreographed dancers.

Pure.

Simple.

No two danced the same steps, but together they created a beauty that only nature can.

I could not look away.

I squatted down for a different angle. Then leaned to the side to admire the show another way.

Finally, my dog licked my cheek, breaking my captivation with his confusion at my odd behavior.

I carried the magic of the sparkling snow inside.

All of those crystals dancing individually, but together they enchanted.

And brought me one step closer to the magic of Christmas.

It’s been a long walk so far.

I’m not the only one who has felt overwhelmed by the sudden onset of holidays.

I see lots of bales of hay still sitting in fields, buried in snow drifts.

I see people hobbling around after they slipped on the ice.

I see stores overflowing with everything except customers.

And then I see snow sparkling in the moonlight.

And take a deep breath.

Those snow crystals are like the people who will come together on Christmas Day again this year for our Conrad Community Christmas Dinner.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us for a free dinner to celebrate Christmas together.
We all will dance our individual steps, but together we will create a magical community.

We did this last year and had a blast.

About 70 people came to the Conrad Community Center for food, music and companionship.

We served ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing, a few vegetables so we felt healthy, Jello salad and pie – all kinds of pie.

The crowd was jovial. Some people had celebrated with their kids on a different day because we all know it is hard to balance in-laws. Some people didn’t want the hassle of cooking. Some brought their friends and some wanted to meet new friends. The table conversations were engaging and animated.

We delivered dinner to people who couldn’t get to the community center, too.

We fed the jail inmates and the dispatchers, people who had a cold or didn’t want to face the icy sidewalk and even a family who drove 50 miles, but didn’t want to get out of their truck.

We felt the joy of working together for someone else, pure and simple, dancing different steps, yet all together.

We will do it again this Christmas Day.

If you would like to join us for dinner, please come to the Conrad Community Center at 2 p.m. on December 25.

If you would like us to deliver dinner to you that day, please call me for a reservation – 278-0159. Leave a message if I don’t answer.

And best of all, if you would like to help, please call me – 278-0159. You can dance, too, by bringing a side dish, helping to prepare the meal, serving or cleaning up afterward.

And if you decide you would like to bring a side dish, you will be helping more than you can imagine. Otherwise, I’ll be cooking.

As my husband, Steve, used to say: “We live on it every day. You can tolerate it once.”

If you can’t make it to the Conrad Community Center on Christmas, I hope you find the magic wherever you are.

Even if you need to squat down in a snowbank to see it clearly.