Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
In my family, tradition is king when it comes to Christmas. Whether it's eating donuts and drinking hot chocolate (or "special" hot chocolate, when you turn 21) while decorating the tree or watching Tom Hanks play 748 roles in "The Polar Express" at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day (that tradition died when everyone became a teenager), part of the allure of the holidays is its reliable traditions.
But sometimes, finding new traditions or trying new things is good practice for the holidays, too. In a year of change, sacrifice and breaking of the status quo, this may be the year for finding some new traditions.
To start, I echo everyone with a soul when I say, if your tradition is to buy a fake tree at Walmart and use it 25 years in a row, that tradition must die a speedy death. A real tree, whether its Charlie Brown quality, Rockefeller Center quality, or somewhere in between, is the only real way to celebrate Christmas. It's never too late to repent of your sins and begin a family tradition of finding a real tree to fill your home with the proven best scent in the world.
If you want to get adventurous, you could go into the woods and chop down a tree yourself. Granted, those options are limited in Lincoln County, but there are spots in Stevens and Spokane counties where those are options. The Colville National Forest allows it, with a permit. The process is available on its website.
If you'd rather not hunt in the woods for a tree, there's no shame in supporting a tree farm and getting a real tree that way. The only shame comes in supporting the materialistic embarrassment that comes with owning a fake tree. What else is fake about you, in this case? Your heart?
Another traditional idea is to find a local restaurant, and make a habit of dining (or this year, getting takeout) there. My family found a small hole-in-the-wall Chinese food restaurant near my parents' house a few years ago that serves delicious portions larger than my face. We decided to go there every year around Christmas time. It's the only time in the year I drink tea; for the full experience, of course.
There's a lot of local restaurants that need support during the shutdowns. It may be a good time to find a restaurant you can make a tradition of eating from during the holidays. I'd keep it to Lincoln County, where they could use it most.
Watching favorite Christmas flicks or terrible Hallmark movies is hardly a new Christmas tradition idea. But what if you found a terrible movie on purpose, and made fun of the movie with your family while eating the takeout you got for dinner from Tribune Smokehouse or Speed Trap Tap House? The laughs can only be compared to the joy that you feel when you smell a real, non-artificial tree sitting in the corner lighting up the house. Hint, hint.
I won't go into heavy detail on what terrible Christmas movies are out there, but Netflix's holiday section will probably provide a lot of fodder. It always has for me, anyway, the last several years.
Finally, Christmas can also be a time to give back. Giving to a nonprofit, buying lunch for a struggling person or family, donating clothes to a local closet, handing out toys to children who may not receive many presents or simply writing a nice note to someone is a way to show that you care about their happiness during the holidays. It's a sentiment a lot of people could use this time of year.
Some local nonprofits include the Care and Share in Davenport and the Wilbur Senior Center.
However you choose to celebrate the holidays, whether it is through finding new traditions or maintaining old ones, it's worth the mental process to focus on what's right in the world at a time when it seems there's a lot wrong. And please, make sure that tree is real. Real trees are something we should all agree is right in the world.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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