Every day is a new adventure. We in the Puget Sound area lead fast-paced, hectic lives. Our family schedules, back and forth to work, keeping our budgets straight, when is the concert, when will I get to the store, the car needs to be serviced tomorrow and I have to be where? You get the idea… because you experience it daily.

We at the city experience this too. We are finishing up a year of many accomplishments. With the help of the Council and Finance Department, we should finalize the budget shortly. Several of our important scheduled Public Works and Parks projects are completed. Our Planning, Building Inspection and Engineering Departments have completed an enormous amount of work, with more coming next year. And our Police Department has once again provided us with a safe city for another year.

With all this busyness, we need to remember to take time for periodic “breaks in the action,” whether it be a quiet evening, a weekend away, or a good old-fashioned vacation. As we approach the last few weeks of the year, we need to remind ourselves that this season is a time to slow down just a bit. It is a time we can all, whether we are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or any other belief, pause and reflect on those beliefs, as well as focus on our family and friends. It is a time of celebration and joy.

Amongst all of the celebrating, we need to remember that it is also a time of sharing and giving. We must keep in mind there are those in our community who do not have the same fortune as others.

We hear weekly of families in need, of hard situations where a parent is trying to find a way to provide a gift, a meal or a place to sleep for a child. This time of year, our Edmonds Food Banks are running at full capacity, the Senior Center is well used by the homeless on cold winter nights, and neighborhood churches throughout the city are providing meals for people on a weekly basis. At City Hall and the Frances Anderson Center, as well as other locations around town, giving trees are covered with wishes and needs from all ages. With both of our parents gone, my wife and I find special meaning in providing gifts for needy seniors within our community.

So yes, while there will be celebrations, parties, the meeting of friends and the giving of gifts… let’s not forget to pause, reflect, recharge and most of all, remember those in need — and work together to provide for them so that they may also have a special moment and a joyous season.

Wishing you all a very Happy Holiday!

– By Dave Earling