Bill Salvatore, Realty Executives East Valley with Jessica, Gilbert Chamber of Commerce

Decorating the yard for Christmas in shorts and sandals is nothing less than awesome but it does very little for your holiday spirit. Don’t get me wrong. I do not miss schlepping through a foot of snow with a frigid metal ladder over my shoulder only to dangle from the icy railing and attach a half-lit string of lights. Assuming your limited patience overpowers your economic good sense and you throw out all the tangled ones, putting up Christmas lights in Arizona is virtually hassle-free. Scaring up an appropriate mood for the holiday season takes a bit more effort.

So every year we try to do something Christmasy right after Thanksgiving. Sometimes we take in the local talent at the Phoenix Botanical Garden during their annual Luminaria. The Zoo puts on possibly the coolest ever Zoo Lights display. There’s a peculiar but somehow exquisite tumbleweed tree in the center of Chandler, and the dazzle of Main Street in Mesa, and Glendale Glitters are not to be missed. But we’ve discovered the thing that does our hearts the most good during the holiday season is passing the spirit on to someone else.

The wonderful people at Gilbert’s Chamber of Commerce have imagined a brilliant project they call Adopt a Senior. Every November they collect a short wish list from each of their Meals-on-Wheels participants, and distribute the lists to anyone who requests them. This is satisfying in more ways than one. My wife welcomes yet another compelling reason to shop, and it kicks off the holiday season with just the right sentiment.

My point is this. Do something nice this year for someone you don’t know. It doesn’t need to cost a lot… a dollar in a few Salvation Army kettles, or a box of supplies for the local food pantry goes a very long way, and brings a lot of meaning to something that can easily become reduced to the annoyance of hanging lights.