December 2011
Best of Birmingham Party 2011
Good People Brewing Company
Thanks to our Sponsors: |
|
|
Hoover Toyota |
Dreamcakes |
Editor's Letter
I recently read a fascinating article on the ancient agrarian traditions that were the foundation for our modern Halloween. One of the things I found particularly interesting was how Samhain was really a harvest celebration, when the last of the crops were brought in and stored in advance of the long, dark winter ahead. It was sort of the last hurrah of the summer and fall, when everyone had a great time before they hunkered down in the cold darkness.
As we move into December and January, those old traditions remain visible in our wintertime holidays, too. Many of our rituals center around feasts of light when all is dark, a remarkable birth in a time when the natural world is dead, bountiful food and the security of loved ones when food is scarce. My particular faith tradition celebrates Advent—a time of quiet waiting—before the celebration of birth and light arrives on the 25th. It is one of the two periods of transition in the Christian calendar, a time when a person is challenged to reflect on what has passed, what is still to come and what one does with the gifts they are given.
Here at Birmingham magazine, right before a season of celebration, we are also in a transition. Now a part of Birmingham News Multimedia, our magazine still resembles, in no small part, the publication it has been for 50 years. But we know that in just a few short weeks, this magazine is going to re-emerge as a very new, very surprising and very soulful publication. Birmingham will be a magazine that honors its own history but embraces the innovation, creativity and excitement of its exceptionally bright future.
At the end of the year, we are looking forward to our new beginning. I thank you for being a part of our first 50 years, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the first issue of our next 50 years.
Here's to a season of lights, of gifts and of hope.
