As the food-centric holidays of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s Day approach, many Seattlietes are confronted with maintaining financial and food security amid the new lockdown and further deliberations over future federal aid.
Various food banks in South Seattle have seen an increased need for food in the community from the beginning of the pandemic response in the spring. As happens every year around this time, this need has become even greater in preparation for the holidays.
What do we imagine when we think of Christmas? A rosy-cheeked white grandfather who promises you your wildest dreams wrapped in paper decorated with snowmen and candy canes? Waking up to the smell of baked goods, excitement bouncing in your hearts? For some, even the smell of fresh cut pine or carolers pestering you at the door, yule logs burning, stockings hanging, shadows reflecting in the flames. Many see Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Jesus or as a marketing myth to increase winter sales for corporations. Though others understand that it is inspired by old “pagan” traditions, people usually do not learn where the traditions came from originally.
Nothing really beats seeing a child’s eyes light up when they see Santa Claus, or even seeing a child with the opposite reaction, bursting into to tears after being forced to sit on the lap of some chubby, bearded man in a red suit. The secular part of modern Christmas is for children and for the memories we have of our own childhoods around this time of year.
