Anyone else remember back in the day when you could recognize your postal carrier on sight and probably even knew their name?

There’s at least one in Aberdeen right now that’s hard to miss, especially this time of year.

Caleb Small is a young father of five who lives in Cosmopolis and works for the U.S. Postal Service. His route includes the businesses in the Olympic Gateway Plaza along East Wishkah; Walmart and the like. Shoppers usually rush by, heads bowed against the winter rain and wind, focused on their last-minute Christmas gifts.

But in the case of this particular federal employee, most passers-by can’t help but pause when they see the man in the Santa hat and dark glasses when he gets out of his red, white and blue postal vehicle.

He has a thick, reddish beard. Well, usually reddish. Today it’s more of a silver/green. And twinkling with multi-colored Christmas lights.

Small, a devout man and member of the non-denominational Wishkah Valley Community Church, caught the beard bling bug last holiday season.

“I had seen the little beard ornaments and stuff, the glitter, and dabbled in it a little last year and it seemed to go over really well,” he said. “The customers really seemed to enjoy it, and I just wanted to encourage them to spread a little cheer. This year I decided to up the ante.”

There are “official” beard lights available online. However, in this day and age of the beard, they can be a little difficult and expensive to procure. As a man with five young kids to support, Small improvised. He went into Walmart and bought a simple small string of battery operated Christmas lights. He added some green and silver glitter. The effect is, to say the least, noticeable, and rarely fails to bring a smile to even the most stressed out of Christmas shoppers.

Along with strutting his spirit daily on the job, he’s been hitting the winter festivals, including Montesano’s Festival of Lights Dec. 8.

For a man with two jobs — he also has a part-time construction job — and a wife, Kassie, plus 3-month-old twins Nehemiah and Hannah, and three other children, Elijah, Ashnah and Gideon, the average man may wonder, why? Why, along with putting on the blue vest and going to work every day, would a person even take the time to decorate themselves so festively for a day’s work?

“It’s just to bring joy to people,” said Small. “You never know what anyone is going through.”