Weekend Picks: Keeping your cool in the cold, dark Wyoming winter

Dec. 7—There's something about the sun setting at 4:30 p.m. every day that makes me want to wax my eyebrows with Gorilla Glue.

My brain has reverted to the circadian rhythm of our Neanderthal ancestors — the moment that the land goes dark, I'm looking for a cave to crawl into. I develop the urge to hand-paint hunting scenes on my apartment wall and chant around a fire, and the drive to stockpile food and wrap myself in animal pelts grows more urgent than usual.

Obviously there's some benefits to the time change and darkening days that come with it. I remain heavily invested in the NFL, but the comfort of tuning in to the night's NBA matchup during the inaugural in-season tournament (the championship is this Saturday) is tough to match. I've traded nights of ethereal horror movies for romantic comedies and crisp beer for whiskey cocktails, while jazz and R&B are driving the ship in place of my regular rotation high-octane punk bands.

They might not admit it, but some of our reporters join me in my restlessness. Not for lack of workload, of course, but due to fluctuating weather, the jarring introduction to the winter winds and the general slowing of community events around the city. These pent-up emotions result in intermittent bursts of unfocused energy in the office, the latest, and healthiest of which, was the explosion of Christmas decorations throughout the Wyoming Tribune Eagle newsroom.

We're drinking more coffee, eating more sugar and trying not to puke as the Tilt-o-whirl of news gyrates into the Christmas season. It's a special strain of journalist-specific cabin fever we're dealing with here. The only remedy is the cynical humor that inevitably lives within every journalist's warm, neurotic heart.

I'm sick with it, too, doing what I can to channel any weariness into the arts and entertainment content of the paper. One big project has received the brunt of my labor, and it is soon to be untethered.

But I can't shake this compulsive habit of staring out the window at cars speeding by, the apparently jobless motorcycle riders revving their engines on a Tuesday afternoon; repeatedly checking my phone when there are no new notifications and trying to remember if there's anything I've neglected to do before packing up at the end of the day.

In case you're going through the same struggle, let's take a look at the events that deserve residents' attention this weekend.

Cheyenne Little Theater Players' stage adaptation of the beloved holiday movie "A Christmas Story" enters its second weekend tonight at 7:30, and will run daily through Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, other Christmas festivities are making their debut tomorrow, like the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens' Conservatory of Lights, running from 5-7 p.m. The event will be held on several other dates this month, but there's no reason to pass up a fully decorated, after-hours event inside the crown jewel of Cheyenne.

The annual Cheyenne Street Railway Trolley Holiday Lights Tour also begins on Friday evening and will run through Dec. 27. It's an opportunity for residents to be escorted around Laramie County to comfortably view the best light displays the community has to offer. Later, on Saturday night, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra is hosting "Holiday Magic," the long-running Christmas program that features performances from other local groups, En Avant Dance Studio, Cheyenne Chamber Singers and All City Children's Choir.

Tuesday night, families can stop by Little America Hotel and Resort for a free movie night, where the hotel will screen "The Grinch (2018)" with complimentary drinks and popcorn.

Beyond Laramie County, "Lights on the Range" continues at the Wyoming Territorial Prison Historic Site in Laramie. Down south, in Loveland, Colorado, the "Winter Wonderlights" event features a stunning 150,000 lights across their many displays, including a special 30-minute music and light show.

The holiday season certainly softens the blow of seasonal depression, even as I get older and the emotions around Christmas undergo subtle changes.

I've gotten my first dose of Christmas spirit early in the month — picking and decorating a real, live Christmas tree, listening to Motown Christmas and Burl Ives, and getting a jump on some classic Christmas movies.

My family, having relocated several times during my childhood, has maintained the tradition of collecting Christmas tree ornaments commemorating locations with phrases like "Christmas in Arkansas" or, my favorite, "Christmas in San Diego" — a gold ornament featuring Santa Claus, sunglasses on and drink in hand, lounging beachside beneath a palm tree.

Our tree in the WTE newsroom has a very special Taco John's ornament in honor of Wyoming's prized institution. I don't expect I'll pay homage to a taco chain within my own home, but think it's time to invest in a "Christmas in Wyoming" ornament.

Lord knows we're in the dark enough to warrant a healthy display of lights, both inside the house and out.

Anything to keep from losing your mind, right?

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.