Dufur Christmas 2024

The Town of Dufur

Dufur is a small town. Smaller today than in its heyday of 50+/- years ago. Maybe even 100 years ago? It has a park - two adjoined ball fields, modern playground equipment, and a public swimming pool! All of those amenities are encircled by Hogan’s Alley - the asphalt road that serves as the artery for park traffic. Along the north side of the paved road and those attractions, are a dozen +/- R.V. parking spaces with electricity, water, and sewer hookups. And the occasional picnic table…and two public restroom structures. Someone along the way…named the park: Dufur City Park. Curious name that I think must beckon to a bygone era when Dufur was perceived as a ‘city’…and not the ‘town’ that it currently resembles. Perhaps that is splitting hairs.

RV Residents

The RV parking spots are occupied by a dozen ‘Recreational Vehicles’. Actually…eleven R.V.’s and one horse trailer to be more precise. The occupants are quite varied. As varied as 21st century America. The ‘temporary’ living quarters range from ‘high-end’ and rather luxurious to a rusty/grey-primer, gooseneck horse trailer at the lower end of the spectrum. The occupants are as varied, too. Although all of the occupants are arguably ‘house-less’, not all are homeless. It is an interesting anthropological window into modern American culture. It’s captivated my attention on this pre-dawn, Christmas morning. There are not a dozen multi-colored, typical Christmas-light decorations amidst the squatter enclave. Most of the occupants are single individuals; most are waking up to a rather solitary Christmas morning.

Reflections on Solitude

It’s not a white Christmas here in Dufur 2024. It’ll be grey and cloudy today, though. Just like grey and cloudy is one person's nemesis, so is solitary. There’s something about the Christmas holiday and solitary that don’t seem to homogenize. Yet, some prefer the quiet solitude and don’t pine for raucous Yule-time celebration. It is that dynamic that captures my morning’s ruminations.

Neighbors and Community

My ‘neighbor’ is ‘M’. She is a retired, middle-earthling. Always walking around with purposeful determination and a rather gangly tree-limb for a walking stick. Engaging at times. She displays interesting and somewhat socially awkward neuro-diversities. Sweet. Tart. Seemingly pining for a more connected and lively community/family. It slightly tugs at my Christmas nostalgia and the Rockwell-esque paradigm of familial-Christmas tradition. The barbs of conversation are enough to keep the tug at a slight pressure, though. I search my heart for hardness and/or criticism. There is sensible discernment and then there’s petty picayunish. I hope and believe I’ve finally traveled my path to the former. It’s been a long, empathic road.

Christmas Morning

I’m sipping a holiday coffee and the first dawning rays are an hour away. I am not alone. Winnie, Winchester, Winnifred Winster-the-Craigslist-feline is here. She just celebrated 12 years…and all with me. Her canine sister, Rosie, is here, too. Their presence seems like the ideal flatmates situation. They listen mostly. I digress.

We have no Christmas decorations. We likely appear to be humbug-ish in our modest horse transport home. It’s a disguise, though. Inside…we are warm, hopeful and insist on "keeping Hope alive". Rosie and I will venture to the horse pasture today in the borrowed, firewood truck of Jim’s. The truck boasts no heater, and Rosie will likely stay buried in blankets against the chilly air, while I wheelbarrow large flakes of hay into the pasture and fluffily spread the grass offerings for the equine contingent of our diverse family. The five horses are brilliant souls. They round-out the ‘houseless’ family that many/most see. Each of us has hope. Albeit, most of the seven dependents’s hope rests on my shoulders to provide the food to keep the stomachs from growling. Nourishment - not too much and not too little. Balance. I suppose that is the hope that is really the bullseye for the day: It’s Christmas - Dec 25 - a holy-day…and yet, just another day…of hope. Maintain balance. Life is good. And balance is more accessible…when one knows Love. 🙏