And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more? – Dr. Suess

The cover of this A&E is graced with wonderful works of art brilliantly created by local artists. We hope you’ll take the time to visit these other artists at their respective galleries during the holidays.
Art is magical, portraying the imaginations of the creators bringing joy even, perhaps, enlightenment to the viewer.

These small wonders, however, don’t always get appreciated during the holidays.

Instead much is written about the stress of the season…too much shopping, too many parties, too many expectations for gift giving too many dynamics at the family gatherings.

If would be much more pleasant if we could gather around the spirit of the Christmas or Hanukah celebrations approach them in a less commercial manner.

There are so many appealing aspects of our traditional holidays that we can just sit back enjoy, even if you choose to just view them on your television or read on your iPad: the music, the literature, the touching old movies, the magic world of elves Santas where we can digress discover.

Caroline Gordon, literary stylist who captured the nuances of life in the American South of the early twentieth century, offers: a well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way. Try reading The Night Before Christmas out loud, even if you don’t have children at home!

Fred Gailey in the Miracle on 34th Street says: Your Honor, every one of these letters is addressed to Santa Claus. The post office has delivered them, therefore the post office department, a branch of the federal government, recognizes this man Kris Kringle to be the one only Santa Claus. Judge Henry X. Harper replies: Uh, since the United States government declares this man to be Santa Claus, this court will not dispute it. Case dismissed.

You can’t be too scrooged if you watch Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol, A Charlie Brown Christmas or Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Or as The Grinch says: Blast this Christmas music. It’s joyful triumphant!

I don’t think anyone stole the magic of Christmas, sometimes we just forget to celebrate it with kindness gratitude.

As we close this year, a challenging one for so many, I hope we can celebrate this last month of 2011 with a resolve to fully appreciate the marvel of our small community the amazing people who make it wonderful.

And so this is Christmas…may it be happy, happy; may it transfer you to all the pleasures of your youth; may it bring you your family love. May you hug kiss as many people as you possibly can (don’t worry they won’t be offended).

A few can touch the magic string, noisy fame is proud to win them: Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them! ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

by PAMELA HULSE ANDREWS Cascade A&E Publisher