It’s a different world we’re living in and this will be a different holiday season for us all, with gatherings and crowds not recommended. Where does that leave Thanksgiving? Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve? These are personal decisions that families will work out with, I’m sure, the enthusiasm and creativity that have dominated this strange time.
Gina Malone, Editor
May I suggest, however, when it comes to gift-giving and buying necessities holidays that we all consider more closely than ever how our choices might benefit local small businesses (shops, restaurants, artists, galleries) and nonprofit organizations that have been hit hard since March? Hadn’t holiday shopping become a little frantic and mirthless anyway? In this issue and December’s, we touch on alternatives to support our towns and neighbors.
Our pages display the usual spreads of beautiful art and craft available at shows either virtual or in-person, including the Southern Highland Craft Guild show, the River Arts District’s Fall Studio Stroll (p. 16) and Brevard’s new The HeART of the Season. Parades may be canceled, but there are still holiday events to be experienced, albeit in slightly different ways in most cases: NC Arboretum’s Winter Lights 2020, Hendersonville’s Peppermint Bear Scavenger Hunt and Wortham Center’s A Swannanoa Solstice among them.
We celebrate our veterans also in this issue by putting the Spotlight on Aura Home, profiling an Asheville retreat for service members and considering the life and work of Yusef Komunyakaa, a Vietnam veteran and Pulitzer Prizewinning poet.
While so much has changed, let’s be thankful we can still have pie! Read about Muddy Pond Sorghum Farm and find a recipe for seasonal sweetness. The next two months will look a bit different than they have in the past, but think of all the new traditions we’re creating. Our celebrations, anyway, are all about love and friendship, something we always find our way to no matter how the pandemic has rearranged our lives.
As always, we at The Laurel are thankful for you, our readers and supporters!
Gina Malone can be reached at gina@thelaurelofasheville.com
