We have all seen it coming. We see the commercials, the decorations that smother the stores, and all the sales and promises of “buy four get one free” gifts. Let’s face it – the holiday season is here. Whether or not you get goose bumps at the sight of Christmas lights, or cringe and start to feel the anxiety rise and get to your spirit.

Bah! Humbug.

In the past few days, I have heard of women trampled at Walmart in search of $29 DVD players, some guy who beat up a lady in the parking lot because she looked at his wife funny in the check-out line, and once again the ACLU is threatening lawsuits over a few statues on a lawn.

And we call this Christmas. Who needs it?

Like most winter nights it had already been dark for hours when I arrived shortly before 6 p.m. in the Easton’s Beach parking lot. The night was windy and cold, the last nor’easter had melted away and the hint of the next one was already in the air. The last thing I would ever expect to be doing is hiking, but that’s exactly where I found myself last Wednesday night.

The tags cry, “Be an Angel,” as does the homemade sign next to the tree, the red angel bear on the tag inviting donors. On the reverse side, a name is printed with a wish list of the only toys the child will get this year if picked. These tags mean only one thing: The Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree Project has returned to Salve Regina University.

As the end of the semester is nearing, thoughts of papers, final exams, winter break and the fact that time is running out to boost final grades fill the minds of students at Salve Regina University. To release these stresses, students head to the workout facility of Rodgers Recreation Center, an excellent place to rid the body and mind of the everyday tension in their lives.