Welcome Home!

Last summer, when we painted our house, my son, his paintbrush still wet, stepped back to admire his handiwork.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It kind of looks like a gingerbread house.”

I walked out to the street and looked back at the house. He had a point.

I was delighted but he just shook his head as he went back to work.

Now, with snow on the ground, my cottage, with its tall, peaked, Cape Cod style gabled roof, and broad cedar shingles painted golden brown, looks even more like a little gingerbread house. The roof is covered in royal icing and the Christmas tree, strung with colored lights, can be seen from the window. There’s a big red bow on the wreath.

It’s as pretty as any centerpiece and it makes me smile when I pull into the driveway.

That’s the thing about this time of year. Everything looks a little more festive. Even traffic lights and the red taillights of cars on the road look like holiday decorations.

The days are short, and the weeks are hectic with work, family activities and added holiday preparations. It would be easy to miss the little things as we go. Little things like the way snow on the bare trees lining the sidewalk looks like a dusting of powdered sugar. And the good feeling of holding a cup of hot cocoa in your hands. Cold hands that just shoveled the sidewalk.

And, most especially, the warm glow of a light in the window when you get home at the end of the day.

For most of the year my house looks like a house that is painted gingerbread brown. But now, in the season of sugarplum dreams and dancing nutcrackers, it looks good enough to eat.

This week in Home

There is something wonderfully nostalgic about standing outdoors, bundled in coats and mittens, and gazing into decorated windows around town. This year, Spokane has brought back the tradition. Our cover feature brings you a peek at some of the windows around town that are displaying ornate handmade gingerbread houses.

If you’re thinking about getting away during the holidays, or taking a well earned break after the festivities end, the North Idaho Bed and Breakfast Association is holding their annual winter tour. We’ve got the details on page 6.

From Newcomers to Treasure Hunters, this issue of Home is a gift bag filled with interesting things.

Enjoy!