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Show DECEMBER 2004 The West View Page 3 This opinion section is an open forum for community issues. Editorial columns and opinion articles are strictly the opinion of the author. Letters of an indecent or demeaning nature will not be published. Letters will be edited for style and space. From Lent Again the Il Editor these different holidays are holidays. all But essentially about honoring the same things — our unique religious/spiritual beliefs, cultural traditions, families, friends and loved ones, and the welcoming of winter. In my family, we had a Christmas tradition of making homemade gifts for one another. We drew names sometime between the Halloween pumpkin carving party and Thanksgiving, and then spent a month or so racking our brains about what to make for that special person. We painstakingly _. Tam telling the truth, I did nothing but let March thaw daffodil house each frostbit limb, it stung, after a lush autumn I let it. Day by day sunlight moved closer held on longer. That's all. First snowfall found me I hope this issue finds you all happy and well during this wintry holiday season. In our wonderfully diverse community, we all have different ways of celebrating unburrowing from his snug made the spent beneath red trees, mine, watching geese fly south— their pulse caught my neck. Why wander cold? I don't know, I had my winter's store. O sharplit shivering breathstealing world. II IV Always, again, sure Pll wake early carve snow angels Cottonwood, I am God’s but I don’t know and leap back footprints won't leave evidence carrying spring in my roots. herb garden, a sturdy wooden picnic table, a backyard swing, a fishing net, homebrewed beer, pottery, a gin- gerbread “fishing cabin”, cozy quilts, an entryway coat rack, and framed photography. In recent years, and for many reafamily’s homemade sometimes cut-throat small ones, held bereft cries in your ringed heart. You stay, so know that wont follow footsteps that don't point home most birds return unscathed, ungrieved. I have never been my own. circling snowblind past one more clearing you would say so You've seen this before, new moist greens become fire, smolder, I would not write a sonnet, [ want fall, while you open your empty branches to the cold stars. two emphatic lines to prove out loud there was a point when darkness falls early sunlight shines through you. gift- “white elephant” gifts — quirky items from home that are traded and stolen the any robin’s nest or half-remembered birdsong. You have seen deaths, too, like this, I would make giving tradition came to an end. We now have a new sort of fun with in You—gnarled, rotted, windbeaten, realer than wont catch cold © hibernating past short dark days with matching pillows, scrapbooks of childhood photos, a miniature our what this means, (I do that, pause to say I’m free to go) gift, many of us completing our projects late Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, after our traditional brunch, we unwrapped the gifts one by one, savoring the unveiling of our labors of love. Past gifts have included homemade pajamas sons, I don’t know where this trail leads but it is mine:. Even in winter God, I am yours, show how : hunger wont kill will bring me to spring. white. elephant game. We still have lots of fun with family, food, and competitive board games. My parents’ house By Melissa Sillitoe is not a quiet place on Christmas, or November 2004 on any holiday for that matter. No matter how you celebrate, may you enjoy your own holiday traditions, or create some new customs that will generate special memories for years to come. In this issue of The West View, you can read about holiday activities happening this month around the city. Other tidbits include a feature story about artists on the West Side, who are living their dream of supporting themselves through their art; the annual Jordan River Christmas Bird Count that has been taking place along the Jordan River corridor for decades; local athletes’, coaches’, and fans’ take on the cur- rent situation with West High’s football program; and more. | For future issues, I encourage you to voice your opinion on any subject that relates to life on the West Side. Your participation in this community newspaper will only add to the richness of its content. For now, happy reading! - Charlotte Fife-Jepperson The “Grinch” Has Stolen Christmas With the holidays coming up, many people are spending a lot of time buying gifts for family and friends. In the United States, the consumer culture has gone rampant. We are buying things we simply don’t need. We are buying things out of obligation. The grinch, of Dr. Seuss fame, thought that Christmas was about presents and gifts. He discovered that in Whoville this wasn’t true. But how many of us could celebrate with NO gifts, and wake up and sing if our things were taken away? The truth is that the grinch has stolen Christmas; the grinch is the materialism that smothers the true meaning of Christmas and other holidays. I am not saying that we should stop gift giving all together. But gift giving a small part of our celebrations. other ways of celebrating and opportunities to help others in example, The Road Home should be There are plenty of need. For houses 800 homeless people over night during the winter. Blankets and winter coats are always needed. There are children there who need clothing and for whom a toy would be a joyous thing. . We have friends who have completely stopped giving gifts. Instead, they buy things and put them under the tree and on Christmas Eve they sit around and organize them into baskets. Their grandkids make cards for the kids. On Christmas day they THE WEST VIEW January 2005 Issue Submission Deadline: Wednesday, Jan 5 We welcome your stories, photos, and opinions. Please notify us if you know of something in the community that deserves cover-. age. Email us at editor@thewestview.org or call (801)355-9572 drive down to The Road Home and bring their baskets to share. Other folks make homemade gifts for their children. Still others donate their time or money to help a cause they believe in. For our holiday party this year, instead of a gift exchange, we are collecting new clothing and toys for a place called The Christmas Box. They work with foster kids and kids going into foster homes. Those are kids who really need presents this time of year. All of the major winter holidays are, at their heart, about joyous celebration. They are about wishing for peace on earth and sharing our love with others. We have taken these basic ideas and allowed materialism to twist them into something completely different. Spend some time this year turning the holidays back into what they were meant to be. | - Stirling Cousins, Wasatch Cohousing Community, Glendale |