No doubt Wrangell businesses do not stock everything on your holiday shopping list, but they probably have something on hand for most everyone on your list.
It’s just a matter of being adaptive, like when the barge is late and you have to change the recipe for tonight’s dinner. Or when the plane is canceled due to weather and you have to host your visitors for another day, even though you were really ready to have the home to yourself. Or when you were late to the Girl Scouts cookie sale and your favorites, the Thin Mints, are sold out and you settle for the shortbread Trefoils.
Anyone living in Alaska, particularly a small town, is used to adjusting and living with what is available.
It’s the same for holiday shopping, only it’s not just a matter of adapting to what’s on hand — it is supporting your friends and neighbors who run local businesses.
As you wrap up your holiday shopping, in preparation for wrapping up presents to put under a tree or on a table or just handed off between loved ones, think Front Street and any other street where gift possibilities are available.
Online shopping has its attractions, particularly the ability to find anything you want with a click and a prayer that it will arrive in time. But it lacks a part of the holiday spirit, which is about caring and supporting your community and the people who live here. Residents share in the joy and friendship of the annual holiday tree lighting, the decorations all over town, the Christmas Tree Lane bidding that closes Friday and that will raise money for Hospice of Wrangell, and the community holiday potluck dinner on Sunday.
No reason not to think of gift shopping the same way. It’s about sharing, the same as any other holiday activity.
Maybe you can’t find the perfect warm socks in town for the cold-footed family member on your list, but isn’t it time they learned a new style besides argyle?
And maybe the gloves don’t exactly match their winter coat, but so what, no one can see through the constant rain anyway.
And maybe it’s not quite the kitchen appliance or towel set or scented candles or coffee mug or wall art you saw online, but it’s here, it’s available, and it’s the thought that counts, not the guaranteed not-so-fast delivery.
Take another look around town. There’s probably something for most everyone on your list. Especially if you’re willing to think outside the shipping box for new ideas.
— Wrangell Sentinel
Reader Comments(0)