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were about to open when “Ride of the Valkyries” began to boom over the public-address system. By 4 a.m.

The hopes of millions of Britons that Covid-19 restrictions would be eased over Christmas were dashed on Saturday, after scientists warned a new variant of the virus is spreading more quickly than others.

A LA real-life Santa’s workshop is churning out toys in Desert Hot Springs, California. This 26-year Army veteran and his wife have spent most of the last decade making toys in a woodshop behind their house. It’s a labor of love that started as a hobby.

The term advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” In the early Middle Ages, this term came to apply to a period of preparation for Christ’s birth, his “coming” into the world, on Christmas Day. One of the earliest traditions associated with this season was fasting.

This story is about a young mother with three small children, her moments of desperation, and her love for her children during the weeks approaching Christmas. It was Christmas 1988 in Flint, Michigan.

Christmas trees are a strange tradition, if you think about it: Every December, people in regions around the world head to the nearest forest, chop down a tree, drag it into their homes, adorn it with lights, baubles, and tinsel—then unceremoniously drag it to the curb in January.

I’ve long thought of Christmastime as a season of mostly pleasant intrusions: thirty or so days of remembering to tend, checklist style, to the latest pressing bit of Yuletide business that comes racing back to The well wishes.

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, at precisely 9 a.m., Dorothy Robertson unlocked the doors to the Hillsdale Senior Center, the fluorescent bulbs blinking to life behind her.

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature.

Oreo truffles are one of my all-time favorite desserts. I can pop about 20 and then start to feel guilty. I always bring them to parties because people just can’t get enough. Nabisco asked me to make their holiday version of these and these melted snowmen Oreo balls couldn’t get any cuter.