The holiday

Share your traditions, weigh in on a seasonal debate, write a creative story or reflect on the year behind you while preparing for the one ahead.

Use [this prompt](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/learning/do-you-make-new-years-resolutions.html) to talk or write about the various goals or self-improvements you are currently working toward, as well as those you’d like to focus on in the New Year. Read the essay and then use [this prompt](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/learning/what-role-does-religion-play-in-your-life.html) to talk or write about how much religion is a part of your life and your holiday celebrations. What would be on your “worst of the year” list? Every year the Oxford English Dictionary selects a “word of the year” that is meant “to reflect the ethos, mood or preoccupations” of the previous year. What would be on your “best of the year” list? What are you hoping to get, or what have you already received? What can you do this holiday season to give back? What do you have to give? What rituals help you mark the holidays or reflect on the year? You might talk about your beloved family traditions, weigh in on a seasonal debate, write a holiday-themed short story or poem, or reflect on the year behind you and prepare for the one ahead. Do you enjoy large family get-togethers or do you find them overwhelming? How do you think you will choose to decorate your home when you are older?

We hope these special sentiments, stories, song suggestions and more from the WBUR staff make you smile — and maybe inspire you to start a new tradition or ...

"We live in Framingham and at the holidays the town puts the old soldiers from Shoppers World around town and makes a scavenger hunt out of finding them all. We load the car with hot chocolate and Christmas music and away we go." I have brought this tradition with me to the US which is home to me. "The winter season was always a special time for me as a kid in the circus because of our stop at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. "Every Christmas, when my family sits together in front of the same meal, someone inevitably remembers that we’re also marking the anniversary of the day my mother and older sister came to the U.S. "Most of my traditions associated with winter holidays that I celebrate are more memories than current. "Drawing inspiration from my wife’s Italian roots, a few years ago we started making a lasagna dinner on Christmas the old fashioned way. I argue to my partner that there's no good reason we can't immediately start ringing in the holidays with Then, for as long as it lasts, first thing we eat every day is a spoonful of Hoppin' John for good luck." We aim to have the John finished when the clock strikes midnight so the first thing we eat in the New Year is the Hoppin' John. If you want a little bit of good news to help you get through the week and spread cheer this holiday season, "The Vince Guaraldi Trio made one of the best Christmas albums of all time: 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' First of all, I love Charlie Brown.

At this Santa Claus-themed gas station-turned-arcade, there's hot cocoa from a gas pump, games like ski ball (pun intended) and a slot car racetrack and ...

The building was originally a filling and service station built in the 1920s. Peek inside the Smeg fridge and you’ll see a darling vignette of penguins on ice. Kringle’s Filling Station launched as a very last-minute project last year, and drew 5,200 visitors. Admission to Kringle’s Filling Station runs $15 a person, plus a $3 ticketing fee, for everyone over the age of 4. According to Wichansky, they are a family of engineers and mechanics who have worked for Santa at the North Pole for generations. And it’s $20 for a group picture and video download in the car, which Wichansky bought off Craigslist and tricked out. Two new features this year are the slot car racetrack and the 1979 Lincoln Continental photo op, and both will cost you a little extra. We don’t want to spoil the magic, but it looked to me like he was able to get a regular beverage-dispensing system in the gas pump — and the cocoa was delicious. Last year the cocoa was an extra $4; this year it’s included in the cost of admission. Nothing is high-tech; nostalgia is a big part of the charm. Where does the cocoa come from, and how does it get inside the gas pump? [Kringle’s Filling Station](https://www.kringlesfillingstation.com/) is hot cocoa, served from a vintage gas pump, with all the fixings.