The new year begins soon, and it got me thinking about traditions. From the earliest I can remember, my mom always put a loaf of bread and some money on our table. The bread promised we'd have plenty of food, and the money insured having enough of it to live on for the coming year. At midnight, we'd eat some pickled herring because it was a lucky food, and later on, my husband and I added drinking some bubbly with it. People all over the world eat foods they believe will brin

Despite the current, unfortunate shutdown of the government of the United States, the noble, volunteer elves of the joint U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) are faithfully on the job of monitoring their satellites for the infrared signature of Rudolph's nose. Following the reindeer's glowing, red honker, pinpoints Santa's location on his travels during Christmas Eve. It all began in 1955 with a wrong number. A Sears ad in the newspaper gleefully pro

Santa is known in many forms and names throughout the world. We in the United States know Santa Claus as that jolly, portly, older man with the white beard whose business partners are a loving wife, elves, and reindeer. Our Santa evolved from the very real third-century monk, Nicholas. St. Nicholas was born around 280 A.D. in Partara which is in the vicinity of Myra in what is now Turkey. He became renowned for his generosity and kindness. Born into a wealthy family, he event

Oh, what fun being a child and able to go out and play in that fluffy, white stuff. All our concerns were snowmen, snow angels, sledding, snow forts, and the ever reliable snowball altercations. Yesterday, Richmond, Virginia got the first significant snowfall of the season. Officially, it’s still autumn, but you’d never know it. We got about 13 inches of snow, and most of it is still lingering. For those of you who grew up in areas where snow made quite a few appearances, do

Lots of people are celebrating various holidays at this time of year. Unbelievably, not counting today, December 4th, there are only 21 days until Christmas. While we contemplate presents for our loved ones and friends, I also think about those of us who have difficulty just feeding the family. According to statistics from Feed More, the Central Virginia Food Bank, 1 in 7 Central Virginians is food insecure, meaning nearly 200,000 people aren’t receiving the necessary nutriti