Laurels & lances: Holly days, kittens and festive rides

Laurel: To holiday time again. After all of the festivities that have been canceled or gone remote in the last two years, it is with childlike delight that people can see old favorite events returning to their communities.

“We’re happy to have things back in person,” said Emily Pasqualino, committee member for the Holly Jolly Christmas event in Latrobe.

The celebrations are not just bringing back the feeling of the holidays. They also are restoring a connection between neighbors and friends that has been hard to find during the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s important to have those ties and the feelings of fun that go with them. It is just as important, however, to do so safely. So go to that parade or that breakfast with Santa or any of the Christmas events that are decking the halls and the streets of the area. But, please, be smart about how you celebrate.

Lance: To too much cute. You have to love kittens. Even if you aren’t a cat person, who doesn’t feel an involuntary “awww” when they see those tiny balls of fluff? The problem for Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue in New Kensington is too much of an adorable thing.

The rescue is deluged with kittens. The Fifth Avenue clinic is at capacity with 75 cats — 34 of them kittens ranging from 7 weeks to 4 months. Some showed up in boxes on the doorstep, and others have been brought through the front door. About half need medical attention.

The lance isn’t for the kittens themselves. It’s for the issue of how all of those kittens come to be in the first place. Spaying and neutering to reduce the number of kittens in need of rescue is important, whether it is making sure your own pets are fixed or helping support organizations that do so for stray populations.

Laurel: To silver bells and more. It is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa) on Port Authority of Allegheny County buses and trains. An explosion of decorations is draping some of the area’s mass transportation in colorful lights, festive evergreens, wrapping paper and tinsel.

It’s an effort from the drivers themselves done with their own time and money. It didn’t take place in 2020 because of covid-19 concerns but is now back.

Nobody really enjoys a commute, but it’s hard to be too much of a Grinch when taking the bus looks so much like riding in a snow globe.