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Hi. We don’t know each other. But Christmas is on the way, and I wanted to introduce myself. Then again, my name isn’t important. I’m nobody special. I just wanted you to know that I’m thinking about you. I’m even praying for you.

Charitable giving grew in 2021. According to Blackbaud Institute, a social good innovator, giving not only increased after COVID-19, but actually rebounded more than it had in a decade - increasing in the United States by 9 percent overall.

There’s one thing (of many) that I love about life: you are never done learning. If you are open to new practices, habits and ideas there is so much more to explore and discover. Big things, little things and everything in between. The day you stop learning is the day you stop living.

December through March is typically peak influenza (flu) season, though this season is off to an earlier start, with high activity currently across the country. While common, flu is a potentially serious and highly contagious respiratory illness.

The pros and cons of keeping and removing the kissing plant

Christmas carols can be heard far and wide from Thanksgiving weekend through Christmas Day. “The 12 Days of Christmas” is one of the most recognizable carols, and for good reason, as the popular song can trace its history back several centuries. Researchers have traced the earliest printed version of the poem on which the song is based all the way back to 1780. That’s three years before the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the American Revolutionary War. The song has long been suspected to have been a way for Catholics in Britain to teach their children the catechism, as the 1700s was a controversial period for Catholicism in the country. However, no documentary evidence exists in support of that theory, and many historians feel it is inaccurate. Others indicate that, while 1780 is likely the first time the poem was printed, the poem is likely much older than that, with origins potentially in France or Scotland. What is known is that the version many people recognize today, namely in song form, can be traced to the early twentieth century, when English singer and composer Frederic Austin first popularized the melody for the song. Austin performed that version of the song beginning in 1905, and it was first published in 1909.

The pristine, white backdrop of a snowy winter day can be a wonder to behold. While fresh snow on the ground can make for aweinspiring landscapes, the absence of greenery amid the starkness of winter poses challenges for animals that do not ride out winter in a state of hibernation.

Christmas Eve is viewed differently by different people, even those who live under the same Santaready roof. Adults may see Christmas Eve as crunch time when they must prepare food for the next day or set up presents for their children to open in the morning. Children, on the other hand, are focused on Santa’s visit and little else.

Holiday lights are now everywhere come the holiday season. Private homeowners tend to hang the holiday lights outside their homes around Thanksgiving weekend and keep them up through New Year’s Day. Though it might seem like a tradition without a deep history, decorating a Christmas tree with electric lights can be traced all the way back to the nineteenth century. In 1882, Edward Johnson, who was a friend and colleague of the man who invented light bulbs, Thomas Edison, replaced candles, which had traditionally been used to briefly light Christmas trees, with light bulbs. But at the time of Johnson’s innovation, the high cost and relative infancy of light bulbs ensured the idea did not catch on. And though United States President Grover Cleveland used electric lights to illuminate a Christmas tree in the White House in 1895, it would be another eight years before General Electric would begin selling Christmas light kits. Those kits cost $12 in 1903, which equates to several hundred dollars today. The first outdoor Christmas light shows started to become popular in the 1920s, and this is the same time when commercial sales of Christmas lights picked up. In the 1960s, GE’s decision to begin manufacturing Christmas lights overseas helped reduce the price of outdoor lights even further, thus paving the way for the tradition of decorating home exteriors with string lights during the holiday season to take a firm hold. And that tradition remains wildly popular today.

WITH LUKE CLAYTON

Big confession, which might not be such big news to regular readers of this column: I don’t do Christmas trees.

A Unique Presentation by Mesquite Arts Theatre Members

Passing Assets Through a Trust: What To Know