Light at the end of the tunnel

We live in a time of great uncertainty.

If you weren’t aware of that before, 2020 came along and kicked you hard enough in the unmentionables that you’ll never forget.

But in this time of uncertainty, here are three Day After Thanksgiving truths you can hang your stocking on.

• If you see Uncle Eddie’s tenement on wheels pulling up in front of your house, it’s time to head for the back door. Kids and spouse? Sorry, but they’re on their own.

• JCPenney, Macy’s and Kohl’s can make you happy today with an average discount of at least 52 percent. But also, according to WalletHub.com, more than 10 percent of major retailers’ inventory will cost more today than it did Wednesday on Amazon.com.

• You don’t know what you've got ‘til it’s gone. Put another way, missing something important makes the heart grow fonder.

We think we’re speaking for 20,000 or 30,000 locals when we say, the absence of a grand parade and fireworks display in downtown Coeur d’Alene will be sorely, painfully missed.

Parade organizers from the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association are doing the right thing, as is the parent company of this newspaper, The Hagadone Corp., which pays for and puts on the heart-thumping aerial assault the day after Thanksgiving every year — except this one. The annual gift from the Hagadone family will remain unwrapped and unlit until COVID-19 no longer poses a serious threat to holiday revelers.

While it’s understandable, it’s also just plain sad. The parade, the gathering in front of Hagadone’s corporate building, the lighting of candles and singing of carols, sometimes the freezing of fingers, feet and noses (in a most joyful manner), the countdown from 10, the fireworks, the lighting of 1.5 million lights —

Hey, wait a second. The lights! We almost forgot about the lights!

While there won’t be a parade or fireworks, no formal ceremony witnessed by massive throngs, the 1.5 million Christmas lights at The Resort will still come on with the flick of a switch at 6 p.m.

Even in these most uncertain times, that de-lightful exercise in exterior illumination is a certainty.

And so is this: Next year we'll all appreciate the holiday season-opening extravaganza a little more than usual.