Perhaps the worst part of Christmas is the inevitable clean-up afterwards: the mountain of empty boxes, shredded wrapping paper, string lights with burnt-out bulbs and the tree slowly going from beloved holiday symbol to fire hazard. But before you toss […]
Christmas has a mixed reputation. Sure, it’s the season of love and of giving, of stepping outside yourself, of the world becoming a little bit brighter. But for those who feel alienated for any reason — whether they’ve stepped away from their religious faith; or they’re separated from family, by circumstance or choice; or they simply find themselves alone in a strange place with no way to reach out — it can go from being the most wonderful time of year to the darkest. […]
Chuck Henderson Christmas Dear readers: For the purposes of this review, I broke one of my personal cardinal rules. I listened to Christmas music before Dec. 1. And then I listened again, and again, and again. And I liked it. […]
To the future generation, I wish you peace and joy. Yes, it is that time of year to start preparing for the madness of the holidays. This year will be different. I am going to change, to help give you clean air and water. […]
No matter our family or personal tradition, we look at the holidays through the lens we choose. We celebrate, we mourn, we do a little of both. I asked four eastern Iowa residents what this holiday season means to them, how they celebrate, what home means. This is what they said. […]
Whether one believes in the literal or religious truth of the Christmas story or not, it remains a powerful and influential tale, obviously for Christians, but even for many non-Christians. Over the years, as the Yuletide celebration commences, I have often discovered new ideas in this simple yet profound tale. This year, the story of the nativity has helped me understand something about what is important for community. […]
Hygge (roughly pronounced hö-geh, though with a little more “oo” on that umlauted o) is a Danish word that defies English translation. Its closest Anglo analogue is probably cozy, but that doesn’t fully capture what hygge is all about. Hygge is a feeling, a condition, but Danes tend to define it more by action and situation than abstractions. […]
Hello, and welcome to the Weekender! As the semester begins to wrap up for the university, the town starts to shift into slight hibernation for a week until it pops back into full form for the coming new year. This […]
Organized religion is responsible for more bloodshed than any institution in human history, but Christmas music is its biggest sin. I hate those songs—and the hegemony they hold over the airwaves, public spaces and every nook and cranny of our […]
