Christmas

Like preachers across the country preparing for Christmas services today, William Lori has grappled with the question of how to celebrate the joy of the day so soon after the devastation of Newtown. But for Baltimore's new archbishop, the challenge also is "rather personal. " Before his arrival here in May, Lori served for 11 years as bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. The diocese includes the quiet, leafy suburb of Newtown, where on Dec. 14 a gunman forced his way into an elementary school and shot 20 first graders and six educators to death.

Just a reminder for those keen on "green" living that Christmas trees make great mulch.  Residents of Anne Arundel , Baltimore and eastern Howard counties can simply put their trees out for curbside collection in early January with other recyclables. Or, if they prefer (or miss the pickup window), they can take the trees to various drop off locations for grinding up into mulch. Folks living in Harford and western Howard counties can drop off their trees for recycling at local landfills or other sites.  Carroll County has offered the same drop off service in prior years for residents of non-incorporated areas there - town dwellers may also have curbside pickup.  Click on the links above for information about your local jurisdiction, drop off locations, pickup dates and other details.

A few months ago, things were looking bleak for Brooklyn Homes resident Christina Stocks. The 27-year-old single mother of two took a pay cut at work and fell behind in her rent payments. She was facing eviction - and a Christmas on the streets. Searching the Internet for some sort of help, Stocks came across the United Way's Family Stability Initiative. She called, and everything changed. The organization helped Stocks out with her rent - keeping the family in their apartment - and provided her with groceries and Christmas presents.

When snowflakes began falling Monday afternoon, the commotion near Mondawmin Mall slowed. Children pointed to the sky. Shoppers, their shoulders previously hunched against the cold, stood to take in the scene. Inside, shoppers buzzed through stores buying last-minute gifts, extra wrapping paper or the final ingredients for holiday meals and desserts. At The Esquire barber shop, men and boys waited for a chair and a fresh cut while talking of Christmas Eve church trips and parties ahead.

My baby boy is about to turn 1. The where-is-time-going panic that is inducing is a post for another day, but I'm starting to wonder, as he gets older, how do we differentiate his birthday celebration from the holiday celebrations? Aaron was due on Christmas Day, and I heard from many December babies how much they disliked having their birthdays wrapped up with the holidays (so to speak). I was terrified I'd go into labor on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day since my husband was in Afghanistan and my older son was understanding Christmas for the first time.

As taken from the pages of The Aegis dated Thursday, December 27, 1962: Harford Countians awoke to beautifully snow-covered grounds on Christmas morning. Snow began falling before daybreak early in the morning, making it truly a White Christmas. Safe crackers made off with more than $1,000 in cash and merchandise from the Livezey Lumber Company on Route 40 in Aberdeen. The thieves entered the building by breaking two windows in the rear of the building. They proceeded to the second floor where they broke into four different safes.

We've had the annual Christmas parade and tree lighting in Bel Air and the similar Christmas Street and parade celebrations in Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, which drew their usual hardy crowds seeking early December doses of holiday cheer. Festivals of trees, holiday bazaars, athletic events with Christmas themes, greens sales and open houses have been so numerous in Harford County that it would be all but impossible for a single person to attend them all. Perryville and Port Deposit similarly have seen their traditional crowds for a slew of holiday events.

State highway officials are urging motorists heading north and west for the holidays to be cautious, given winter weather conditions expected in some areas in the coming days. The weather could complicate holiday travel and celebration plans as people look to take advantage of a long weekend, with Christmas falling on a Tuesday this year. More bad weather could hit those traveling between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Rain is expected tomorrow in Baltimore with light snow possible in areas north and west of the city.

What a pleasure it was to get the first team from Fox for the telecast of a Ravens game rather than the second or third crew from CBS as we usually do. OK, maybe seeing the Ravens bounce back so decisively against the New York Giants, 33-14, has a little something to do with all the holiday cheer I'm feeling. But I really believe it has a lot more to do with the authoritative play-by-play from Joe Buck and on-the-money analysis from Troy Aikman -- without a second of gas-bag, hot-air talk from either of them all day. And the guys in the booth were only part of the happy, holiday, TV package Fox Sports sent our way Sunday.

John Ragan concedes that he is neither computer-savvy nor very much interested in using the Internet. "I'm not an Internet-surfing kind of guy," the 30-year-old carpenter said recently. But it was his occasional foray onto MarylandWhitetail.com that prompted Ragan to put a classified ad on the hunting-based website, offering to sell all of his bowhunting equipment for the $600 he figured he needed to buy Christmas presents for his family. Ragan, who grew up in Baltimore and now lives in Westminster with his wife and their two children, 12-year-old son Trenton and 9-year-old daughter Hayley, needed the money after he was laid off from a few sub-contracting jobs in recent months because of the economy.