Winter is here at last and the Holiday season is upon us. The smell of fir is in the air, the sound of bells is distantly ringing and endless strands of lights illuminate the town.

Downtown McMinnville is swarming with warmly dressed holiday shoppers and aimless teenagers, coffee in one hand, quickly thinning wallet in the other. The town's hoppin' with holiday spirit, but the winter weather has some people feelin' down-right bummed.

Shopping local seems to be a theme for this holiday season. The city's recent "buy local" campaign seems to be paying off from the looks of it. Many a car window displays the small square window-cling reading "Be local. Live local. Buy local. McMinnville."

The attitude promoted by the mantra seems to have spread like wildfire with help from the state of our economy, no doubt. People are realizing they not only don't need all the usual crap they stock up on during the holidays and gift their relatives, but they frankly cannot afford it. An idea to which the environment and your pocketbook give two thumbs up.

With this new attitude sending shoppers to Third Street and beyond in droves and turning the town into one giant holiday fiesta, what's left to do for those of us with less than ample funds?

For anyone under the age of 21, McMinnville isn't the liveliest of towns, God love it. Add being a jobless teenager or a prospective college student making minimum wage and trying to save a few bucks and entertainment can get a bit tricky.

The weather has herded us indoors to twittle our thumbs and stare out our windows, ready to pounce at the first sighted snowflake. Some tool about MySpace for hours on end over a bowl of off-brand fruity pebbles. Others lie on the couch, backpack still on, watching "The Daily Show" and jumping off the couch at the sound of their cell phone receiving a text message (the sound of opportunity).

These are all transitory periods that are common for teenagers between seasons, the weather changes and new activities must be discovered with a respective lull between each season. The fall to winter transition is one of the hardest, it feels like summer was just yesterday then all of the sudden it's 30 degrees and raining diagonally.

This abrupt temperature drop and frequent rain has left many unenthused, uninspired and feeling out of luck. One group in particular that seems to have been left high and dry is skateboarders.

They've been driven indoors due to the rain and our town's lack of an indoor park, forced to loiter at Valley, the local skate shop. And for those skaters who usually get their shredding fix on the mountains snowboarding in the winter, the lack of snow is making this year somewhat of a let-down as well.

So what is a bored, cooped up adolescent to do in these dry times? Turn to our studies?...Maybe... Most of us are kept reasonably busy stressing over finals and the trillions of other deadlines floating around in our heads. But where do we go when we finally find ourselves with some free time?

Cornerstone again? Perhaps. Head to Ranch to thumb through some old Streisand albums? Possibly. Watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua at 3rd Street Pizza? ...Um, no.

My suggestion for anyone with nothin' to do: Get into the spirit of things, dang it! Put up a tree, put up some lights, cover your house in gingerbread! It's Christmahanukwanzica for goodness sake! Make your own Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Winter Solstice cards, bake cookies, go caroling (actually don't, it's really awkward for all parties involved).

Really now, this month comes with its own built-in activity calendar and it's just begging everyone to get involved. Throw a holiday party (and invite me), drink egg-nog, and eat way too many cookies, Clementines and various pumpkin flavored goods. And don't worry, you can't OD on gingersnaps; your body just stops accepting the ginger after awhile. You'll know when.

Put on the "Charlie Brown Christmas" album, take a drink of hot cocoa, stop stressing about school and all the things you can't do, can't buy, can't skate on and can't legally consume. Just let the ideas flow and in no time at all you'll be boiling over with ideas and plans for holiday extravaganzas that you and your friends can partake in.

So, just because your shopping is budgeted this year, or you're tired of the same ol' same ol' and it's taking you a bit longer to get into the groove of the season, fear not, for the merriment is just around the bend!