PORCH PONDERINGS

WrapUp

Well the blasted Christmas stroll is over. The leader of the event was every bit as annoying as I feared she would be. She touts herself as this big marketing genius- yet there was little to no regular exposure of the event beyond some Facebook posts. Our population here in town is leaning toward the elderly, those who are reluctant to fully embrace all the new technologies. Granted, some do. But some are not so quick to go first to Facebook, TikTok, X and all the other mumbo jumbo hocus hocus out there. But the leader of the event does ALL her marketing in that world.

Hmm. She spoke down and disparagingly to vendors, promised paper maps (which were never ever produced), held on to monies paid to her for vendor spaces for weeks, and just generally was a burr in the sides of many good hearted people. And, oh, by the way, she is Roundup's Celebrity.
WHAT? I never heard of her until she took the reins for this.

Ah well. Enough. I am done. Except for an opinion poll I published for the vendors. And boy did that make Miss Celebrity mad. Probably because she didn't do it first. But you know, strike when the iron is hot, as they say. The poll went out the hours after the event finished. And I have some quite enlightening comments.

Beyond that annoying piece of my life, all else is quiet. And thank you for that. I did go to a SouthEast Montana Tourism event yesterday. I always enjoy those meetings. It was bittersweet as the director is moving to Minnesota. After 8 years at the helm, she is moving on. Darn. She was a good director. But I am sure we will get a good replacement. The Billings Chamber of Commerce is our sponsor and is already interviewing. But change is hard.

Christmas is a hard time for me, and many others. The days are dark, the nights are long. There is no family nearby. I always struggle this time of year. I have been using my sunlight lamp each morning, and taking extra Vitamin D. But still, dark days make for a dark mood. SAD hits me hard. But a few more weeks and all will change with the winter solstice when we start adding sunlight again.