Twelve days of Carbondale

This December I want to give a little appreciation for our local flare here in Carbondalay, Bonedale, C-town (just kidding, no one calls it that— yet!) As the holidays approach, it’s a good time to take stock of all that we have and look for ways to share with our neighbors. Personally, I feel extremely lucky to live here, surrounded by cowboys and artists, in a house we moved from the Ranch to the unorganized territory of Satank, and I’m grateful for my little candid opinion column in this, our own town’s weekly newspaper. So, here to the theme of The Twelve Days of Christmas, are some local spots to show a little love this holiday.

On the twelfth day of C- wait, the twelfth day? Is that as in twelve days counting down to Christmas? Or are we celebrating Christmas for twelve whole days like the pagans did… and is it backwards? Oh well, whatever. Here we go.

On the twelfth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building. We are lucky to have the Habitat for Humanity ReStore chock full of billionaires’ hand-me-downs, and while Pitkin County landfill will be full in a few years, we can still focus our talents on reducing, reusing, and recycling our building materials.

On the eleventh day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters potting (okay, throwing, actually.) The Carbondale Clay Center celebrates twenty-five years of clay this year.

On the tenth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking at the Legion. You guessed it, I’m one of those hundredaires who shows up regularly once Shake-A-Day climbs above four digit$.

On the ninth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing. Let’s hear it for the Sopris Sun’s success with informing, inspiring, and building (up!) this community.

On the eighth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating. Carbondale Arts supports a full spectrum of artists who color in our beautiful valley.

On the seventh day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating, seven skiers skiing at Spring Gulch. We have world-class bluebird-sky cross-country skiing right in our backyard, thanks to the Mount Sopris Nordic Council.

On the sixth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating, seven skiers skiing, six geese a-laying— what’s better than fresh eggs from happy dames? Shop at Mana.

On the fifth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: Five grass-fed burgers. One of the best things about this town is that wherever you order it, chances are you are eating delicious locally raised beef.

On the fourth day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating, seven skiers skiing, six geese a-laying, five grass-fed burgers. Four spinning DJs; KDNK plays all my favorite country punk songs.

On the third day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating, seven skiers skiing, six geese a-laying, five grass-fed burgers. Four spinning DJs, three canned goods for Lift-Up. “When we have more than we need, we build a longer table.” – Jesus.

On the second day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating, seven skiers skiing, six geese a-laying, five grass-fed burgers. Four spinning DJs, three canned goods, two feature films. Crystal theatre gift cards make the best stocking stuffers!

On the first day of Carbondale, my true love gave to me: twelve builders building, eleven potters throwing, ten drinkers day-drinking, nine writers writing, eight artists creating, seven skiers skiing, six geese a-laying, five grass-fed burgers. Four spinning DJs, three canned goods, two feature films, and a happy, healthy 2023.