It’s hard to believe; this is the third Christmas I have celebrated in Waitsburg. The first was exactly seven days after I moved here. Christmas week, I was a guest at a birthday party and invited to a New Year’s Day brunch/open house. I knew I had arrived, and Waitsburg was perfect. And that winter, I proudly survived what new neighbors proclaimed to be the snowiest and coldest winter in 15 years.

Last year, my second December here was also memorable, although not for the snow. Daniel visited, and so had a bunch of neighborhood Santa’s bearing gifts. Those gifts were a welcome treat...