LAWRENCE, Kan. -- As Jay Morris describes how he and a bunch of helpers use chunks of donated wood to create children’s toys each Christmas, one of those volunteers interrupts.

“Jay, we got a wobbly,” neighbor Steve Wood hollers out from across the small woodshop in Morris’ basement in Lawrence, Kansas.

Just like a head elf would do at...Read more

After the last winter season, I’ve started following several weather forecasting gurus. They all seem to be on the sensationalist side of journalism, but it makes it a lot of fun. It keeps me second guessing whether the collapse of the polar vortex is a good thing or a bad thing. As a horticulturist I know one thing and that is that Snow is in...Read more

LOS ANGELES — "Face! Center! Low! Hit him hard!"

The shouts — a husky voice with a Southern surf bro twang — echoed in the dojo as a 4-year-old blond boy with a headband reading "Lil' Dragon" punched up at a scowling mannequin.

"Kiiiiick! Don't jump. Just kick. … Yeahhh!"

More shouts. A huge smile from the tiny boy, a karate student ...Read more

BALTIMORE -- A yearslong surge in displaced roosters is overwhelming animal sanctuaries in Maryland and across the country, fueled by a pandemic-born boom in backyard chicken coops and the noisy realities of owning a male bird.

“All the time — calls, emails, text messages wanting us to take roosters,” said Cathy Rogers, executive ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m 24 and recently started seeing a guy I’ve had a crush on for six months. We finally went on two dates and both went incredibly well. He was affectionate, introduced me to his friends, cooked me dinner, even cleared a little space on his bathroom shelf for my toothbrush. It all felt very sweet and intentional, and I left his ...Read more

I got this interesting question recently, and it made me think. And when things make me think, you know I have to write about them!

Q: How do I balance ‘You deserve zero red flags’ with the reality that no one is perfect? Thank you!

A: Those are VERY different things. A red flag, by my definition, is objective: Someone is rude to people. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Elliot Copen, 17, was worried the Scouting America camp he had visited dozens of times in an undeveloped canyon of the Santa Monica Mountains would feel empty.

The Palisades fire roared down the canyon 11 months ago, destroying the historic lodge and its Hogwarts-like interior (albeit without the “flying balls,” Copen noted),...Read more

If you’re rethinking whether to spread the holiday cheer by tipping this year, you might not be alone. Fewer Americans are planning to tip their service providers this holiday season compared to last year — from their housekeepers, trash collectors and gardeners to mail carriers, teachers and childcare providers.

More than half of U.S. ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- An elderly couple huddled over a long to-do list.

“So you’re going to cash the check …,” said 75-year-old Warren Wiscott.

“And then go get groceries,” finished Winona Wiscott, 72. “Then you can go to the pawn store.”

A voice booming out of a nearby speaker added another worry: “Do not leave your cash just ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I need you to change my name if you answer publicly because I am about to complain about my principal. One of my fifth-graders threatened another student with violence while on the playground and was consequently suspended by the principal for a day. The kid came back the next day with a smile on his face. I overheard him ...Read more

I talked to Santa by phone today. Truly. He was in St. Louis getting ready to head out for an afternoon shift at the mall and after that a couple of runs on the Polar Express.

Mrs. Claus was helping with the custom-fit red and white suit (which his daughter makes for him), the belt, the hat, the boots, the gloves and the signature beard.

Santa...Read more

Q. My husband of nine years died in a car crash three years ago. I continued to spend the holidays with his parents each year. Last year his mother passed away so his father is all alone. My new fiancé doesn't think we should spend the holidays with my former father-in-law. I understand his point of view, but this man has been family for years....Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Saturday was the 105th anniversary of Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane lighting ceremony and festival, but you couldn't quite call the night a celebration. It felt more like a memorial in a holiday wonderland.

Along the near mile of the cedar-lined street, there were glorious lights, children singing and a soul-thumping procession ...Read more

Since I am in the holiday spirit (and, having just consumed a mug of hot toddy, a glass of eggnog and a nip of cheer, the holiday spirits are in me), I have decided to follow in that great tradition of boring everyone silly by writing a Christmas letter.

That is why I am pleased as punch (which I also drank) to present the following chronicle ...Read more

Liz Dunnebacke isn’t dying, but for a recent end-of-life care workshop in New Orleans, she pretended to be.

Dunnebacke lay still atop a folding table that was dressed as a bed, complaining that her legs hurt. Registered nurse Ana Kanellos, rolling up two small white towels, demonstrated how to elevate her ankles to ease the pain.

“ Mom�...Read more

When Whitney Catalano filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2022, she was self-employed, living in an apartment she couldn’t afford and carrying $60,000 in credit card and personal loan debt. For her, bankruptcy looked like freedom.

“I felt very overwhelmed by money,” she says. “I wanted to clear myself of this chapter and really restart ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Dressed in “Team Lisa” T-shirts, two friends posing as savvy business-minded “Sharks” ran through a tight presentation of why any potential investor in the audience would be smart to date their friend.

“When you invest in Lisa you invest in your own future,” they said, as part of their “Shark Tank”-themed ...Read more

The constant pop pop pop of the plastic ball was simply too much to take.

Kimberly Edwards, who lives near the tennis-turned-pickleball courts at Forest Hill Park in Carmel-by-the-Sea, could hear the resonant sound everywhere she turned — outside in her garden, even through her bedroom window.

“It is very annoying,” she told the City ...Read more

CHICAGO -- William McNiff has been a vocal critic of the recent immigration crackdown in Chicago on his TikTok profile. So when he heard about the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, which provides gifts for children and families in need, he wondered if he could do something similar for children of immigrant families affected by Operation ...Read more

It’s easy to feel like you don’t recognize your own country when cruelty and chaos ooze daily from the White House, leaving a murky film over so much of what we cherish.

It’s easy to feel like the hard-won progress toward making this place a more welcoming, more inclusive, more equitable home is being rapidly, gleefully rolled back.

It�...Read more