The Season of Light is upon us!
If you would please indulge our need for an occasional, protracted metaphor…events last week certainly suggested one. For a lot of people, there was something beyond the amazing visual display that was the aurora covering the northern skies. It was the fact that, much like the total eclipse of 2017 or a new Yellowstone spinoff, it was something that everyone experienced at the same time. The word for something like that is sometimes “monoculture,” which is itself a metaphor taken from agriculture. Like a giant crop field full of potatoes, a monocultural event spreads everywhere and is experienced by everyone who enters the field.
Those who study culture often express dismay at the impossibility of monocultural experiences in the modern world. There are singular events in American and World history that function that way, of course. The Revolutionary War is one, and as a country we will be gearing up to commemorate the 250th anniversary of that event as a shared experience with the current America250 initiative.
On a smaller scale, holidays at home with the people we love and care about are another monocultural experience.
This season, there are so many people trying to bring us together. The Light the World Giving Machine is in Chubbuck right now, and its whole mission is to make the world a richer, more shared place.
Locally, the lighting of Teuscher Square is imminent. The Toys for Tots and donation seasons are in full swing. The Community Christmas Concert is practicing every week for its December date. The Festival of Trees is only days away. Santas will soon be taking requests from children, food pantries will be restocking their shelves.
These stories and more have been and will continue to be covered in our pages, as well as new stories, like the ice skating rink that was assembled in Soda’s Kelly Park over the weekend.
This is also the last week of the Turkey Day Giveaway. Inside, find coupons for local locations, which you can turn in for a chance to win a Thanksgiving turkey. The final deadline for entries is next Monday, the 24th, and drawings for the birds will happen afterward for the Thanksgiving week.
While turkeys and trees and hockey and Santa aren’t maybe as cosmically flashy as an aurora, they are things that bind communities together, and maybe are more lasting for that reason.
