Red Lodge: A Holiday Story
By Linda Berlin
Do you ever wonder what you’ll do when you retire? Will you travel the world? Spend more time with family? Never get on an airplane again? Have you given it any thought?
I once watched a pickup truck plow a deep layer of snow off a narrow runway I planned to take off from. I found myself mesmerized by the spectacular ballet unfolding before my eyes. I have always loved waking up to a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. Showing up to work after several inches of perfect powder had settled onto the ramp and runway overnight fed my fascination. I didn’t care how late we would be or how I’d spend the rest of the day trying to make up time, I sat there in awe of a job well done.
The driver methodically pushed the snow toward the other end of the runway, making a satisfying scraping sound as he went along. The neat lines that he carved along the way made me want to switch seats with him. I still think of that day, two airlines later. Plowing snow may just be the perfect retirement job for me. The whole scene played out down the road from where I live now with a man I love.
Rodeo is also crazy about snow, but he might just love Christmas more. For the entire month of December, he loves to play holiday music. Sometimes, he gets busy with it right after Thanksgiving. If I protest, he reminds me how important it is to get in the holiday spirit.
A week after hosting family for Thanksgiving, we decided to have a party for our friends. The invitations went out by text a few days prior. Last year, we had to cancel our holiday party because we both got RSV. Rodeo brought it home from work. This year, we’d been home a week already, so we were safe healthwise. I think all of our friends are starving for a get together, thanks to Covid. Most of them said yes.
The day before the party, the house was a complete mess, but Rodeo insisted we go to Red Lodge, Montana, for the Christmas Stroll. Main Street shuts down to traffic for a local parade and the shops are open late. I didn’t want to be labeled the Scrooge and I did have more presents to buy, so the filthy floors would have to wait.
Red Lodge is a mining town turned tourist attraction with a small ski mountain just six miles up the road. In the summer, it’s famous among motorcyclists because Chief Joseph Highway, a meandering paved road through the stunning Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, spills right into the southern end of town. The houses were built quickly in the historic downtown to accommodate an influx of coal miners. Most of them need some serious love, but The Pollard Hotel, at the center of town, stands out as an architectural slice of history built in 1893. The remodeled rooms capture an earlier period and Marli’s, the restaurant in the lobby, is nicely updated and serves a killer omelet.
When the parade kicked off, much to my surprise, snow plow drivers led the brigade, their rigs decorated with colored lights. I didn’t want to trade places with them - there was no snow - but it did stir that yearning for my future job. I marveled at a giant green tractor equipped with a massive plow, its tires nearly over my head, as it rolled by.
There were midsize pickups with oversized plows, side-by-sides with mini plows, and finally two grand Belgian horses pulling a hay wagon filled with passengers, their heads held high, trotting down the center of Main Street like they owned the place.
Wood crackled in open barrels on each street corner where children roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. It isn’t a competition, but when visitors to our town ask us where the best place for dinner is, we direct them to Red Lodge, where the fancier fare can be had. Prerogative and Ox Pasture come to mind, but even the local bar, Foster & Logans, serves a yummy Greek salad.
During the pandemic, I almost bought a home here. Back then, I had no idea how many people would flee big cities and move to Montana and Wyoming. My low-ball offer in March 2020 seems so misplaced in hindsight. I wasn’t confident that things would ever get back to normal. It took four years, but here we are.
With a snow plow parade, great food, and a new independent bookstore downtown, who wouldn’t want to live here? We just need some more snow to make the holiday celebration complete and to put those snow plow drivers back to work.
