Editor's Note: Get Your Holly Jollies Here

We’re a week out from Thanksgiving and holiday merch has been on the store shelves for three or four months now, so I reckon it’s safe to say that the holiday season is here.

It’s easy to hate on the holidays and all the hoopla that goes along with them, but COVID and having young children has given me a fresh appreciation for them. It’s not so much the shopping or the gifts or the stress that comes along with this time of year. It’s the chance to spend time with the extended family—something we couldn’t do last year—and break bread around a table. Especially one that includes some pie for desert.

This week, we bring you a calendar of holiday events as well as a guide to some local shops where you might want to find gifts. But as I’ve written too many times, be cautious out there. COVID numbers continue to rise at an alarming rate and even if you’re vaccinated, there are breakthrough cases. And if you’re not vaccinated, do consider getting the shot. Too many kids won’t be celebrating the holidays with a parent or grandparent this year because too many people didn’t want to get a shot. 

Elsewhere in the paper this week: In something of a Christmas miracle, President Joe Biden has signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law; you’ll find details on Page 5. Plus, managing editor Jeff Gardner examines how Mount Lemmon’s bighorn sheep are recovering from last year’s Bighorn Fire; columnist Tom Danehy finds rhyme and reason with a young poet; movie critic Bob Grimm enjoys a documentary about author Kurt Vonnegut; Reel Indie columnist Matthew Singer rounds up the movie screenings that might not be on your radar; arts writer Margaret Regan gets a look at the show of photography at Etherton Gallery; Chow contributor noodles around downtown’s OBON sushi and ramen bar; XOXO columnist Xavier Otero tells you all about the live music you can see this week (but please wear a mask if you go out); the Tucson Weekly Test Department brings you a ganja gift guide for the stoners in your life; and there’s plenty more scattered around these pages. Plus, after you’re done reading this week’s edition, you can turn it into wrapping paper for all those holiday gifts. 

Be well!

Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor

Hear Nintz talk about all things Tucson Weekly at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays during the world-famous Frank Show on KLPX, 96.1 FM.