This is supposed to be the holiday season, the time of year when we especially enjoy our family members, those close to us and those visiting from far away.

This is supposed to be the time of year when we celebrate love, kindness, a charity of spirit.

We buy gifts - gifts, it is hoped our loved ones will like - and we decorate our homes, our cars, our pets, ourselves. We gather with friends and good cheer.

But somehow now, at the beginning of the glorious month of December, we can easily ask - where has the cheer gone?

In addition to serious, ongoing worries about our national and local economy, concern over jobs, home and business foreclosures, December presents a set of annual frustrations.

The roadways are congested; mall parking lots resemble edge-to-edge metal-growing fields.

There are no shopping carts left. The aisles in the stores used to be wide - now they represent only a minefield of collisions waiting to happen.

Glazed eyes peer out of frantic faces as fellow shoppers dig through half-opened boxes, looking for a complete set of something or other for somebody or other. And tempers flare, on the road, in the parking lots and in the stores.

Take a deep breath.

Why not visit a nearby Christmas tree lot, any one will do, and walk around and breathe in the aroma.

It is almost impossible not to feel the season’s tension slip away as the smell of evergreen trees seeps into your being.

Glorious trees, evergreen boughs and wreaths all carry the memory of a Christmas past, the promise of a Christmas to remember.

Let it happen!

As we begin to think about our New Year’s resolutions, there’s one that should be on everyone’s list ... Put family and friends first. Because, when it’s all said and done, there isn’t much else in this world that matters.

We at the Voice want to take this opportunity to extend our warmest wishes to you and your families during this holiday season. And to thank you for making us part of your world.

This December issue is overflowing with holiday event listings and related articles -- plus oh, so many other North County activities.

Enjoy!