In honor of the joyous season, let's lead off with a Pit.
The ersatz Victorian Street lamps on Pennsylvania Avenue are really nice in the daytime, but shouldn't they be really nice at night? We all know that the reinvention of downtown Warren is a work in progress, but it would have been extra nice to have adequate lighting for the Christmas Parade last Friday night.
Did someone forget to pay the electric bill?
But, an attendant Peach:
There may not be as many people downtown as we remember Christmas walks from 10 or 20 years ago, but the spirit was still there. The roasted chestnuts were still there. Elvis was a nice, though somewhat Fellini-esque, touch. Who says all of Santa's elves have to be short people with silly shoes and Mr. Spock ears?
We will toss a Pit at ourselves for last week's observation that Mother Nature had been very, very good to us this fall, with mild temperatures and a prolonged Indian summer. We should know by now that you don't fool with Mother Nature, who let us know who is really in charge this week.
It was that prolonged warm weather that is ensuring Lake Erie's surface remains liquid and provides all the moisture for the lake effect we love so much.
And here's a Peach generated by what produced that Pit.
Snows like the one we endured this week are mercifully few, but when they occur, they can wreck havoc with travel. Although you are likely to hear grousing about the condition of this road or that, the fact remains that state Department of Transportation crews do a great job here in the county. And, we're not going to leave out the city's DPW force and those townships which keep neighborhood streets passable.
When two feet of snow fall over two days, the job is daunting, but once again, they got it done.
And one last Peach to people most readers never see:?their newspaper carriers.
Streets and sidewalks look a lot different at five or 6 a.m. than when most of us report for work. Roads are just being plowed, sidewalks are likely neglected, yet the Times Observer received very few complaints of missing or late papers in the midst of this storm.
That's testimony to the dedication and determination of dozens of carriers, both young and old.