Today's Opinions

It's hard to find the time I once had to rummage through old courthouse records. When I first came to the paper in the late 1990s, I would venture off some afternoons and sift through dusty boxes and yellowing tomes filled with old wills, court orders and criminal proceedings.

While decades old, the records  are open to the public and while recent real-estate transfers, criminal and civil proceedings and probate cases can be searched on computers in the various offices, the really interesting things are in back rooms and closets.

There are two events on my annual calendar that get me in a serious mood for housecleaning. The first is a neighborhood party I throw each June that brings a few dozen people to my backyard. I know them all well, but I hate the idea of visitors seeing a dirty house.

The second round of cleaning comes with New Year’s Eve and for the past several years, I’ve spent the final hours of the old year scrubbing floors, dusting nooks and crannies and wiping down windows in a rite of winter grime-fighting that sometimes lasts from dawn to dusk.

Christmas is upon us again and it's a time to rejoice on what this day really stands for. Sometimes the real meaning of Christmas gets lost in all the holiday shopping and the memories of past years.

Some memories are wonderful and others are heartbreaking. Yet, we still celebrate this most exciting holiday with all the joy possible.