Christmas

(Runtime :54)Christmas trees are big business out West, but a hotter climate means challenges for tree growers.John Tillman owns Tillman Christmas Trees…

(Runtime 1:05)Drive down Walla Walla’s Wallula Avenue on a December evening, and Chris Long’s place — known as the “Christmas house” to some — is hard to…

(Runtime 1:27)The reindeer at Goldendale ReindeerFarm do more than dash through the snow—they play their games, of course, and snuggle with their…

(Runtime 0:48) Christmas joy has blown up in one Tri-Cities, Washington neighborhood. A giant inflatable yeti has invaded Highview Street in Richland.…

The holiday season has always been popular for introducing new works, including many perennial favorites. In Italy, the day after Christmas became especially meaningful to composers and impresarios.

The holiday season inspires all kinds of thoughts, often having to do with reflection, celebration and renewal. For musicians and concert presenters, this time of year has long served as a period for introducing new works, whether specifically related to the season or not. Classical music offers a wealth of examples.

Rare were the Christmas rom-coms with Asian, queer, Latinx or disabled characters. When Black characters started to show up, they generally played sidekicks — or they starred in family holiday movies, not the kind of Christmas rom-coms where Mom's always there to help with a thorny relationship dilemma, the cider is forever mulled and not a single problem can't be solved by declaring love under the mistletoe.

Fred Thrower came up with the idea for the TV fire in 1966. "There's something very special about the fact that you're watching the same burning fireplace that someone else is," says Fred's son Mitch.

Midwinter has been a period of festivities for millenia, but Christmas as we know it today has its origins in Victorian Britain. It was in Victorian times that the idea of Christmas as a family holiday, with gift giving, a tree, and an intimate dinner became central to this celebration.

Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is back at the top of the chart a quarter century after it was first released. So why haven't there been any lasting Christmas songs to take its place?