Editorial

A s I write this year-end essay about 2022 trends in food and dining, I must confess that I’m playing catch-up.

F riends turned on friends.

W hen it comes to sappy holiday movies, you either scorn them as you would another pair of reindeer-themed socks, or you eagerly binge on offerings such as “My Southern Family Christmas,” produced by Hallmark and described thusly: “Under the guise of a journalist, Campbell has a chance to get to know her biological father for the first time — without him ever knowing who she really is. … Campbell must decide if she’s going to keep her identity a secret or reveal the truth to her father — a decision that will change their family Christmas forever.”

they were here to harvest the forests, and on Sundays, they worshipped together.

I’ m filled with a renewed sense of hope all of the sudden.

G etting to know people who are persecuted for their religious faith is lifechanging. To meet people whose everyday life involves the real possibility that they might be kidnapped, tortured or killed simply because they are Christian, Yazidi or Uyghur Muslim gives you a whole new perspective.

O ne of my fondest childhood memories of Christmas in the 1970’s was riding around in the family station wagon, “Bessie,” to look at Christmas lights while I whined to my parents about needing a snack – again. There was something magical about a familiar evening landscape transformed to a radiant wonderland at the expense of someone’s lumbar spine.