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Your Boston-area home, season by season

Winter prep, heating, power and the practical chores of owning or renting around here.

Illustration of a New England colonial house in light first snow with a shovel, ice melt and roof rake by the door

Before the First Snow: A Massachusetts Home Checklist

The winter prep that is specific to Massachusetts: CO law, parking and hydrant rules, a free Mass Save audit, outage numbers and generator rules.

4 min read

All Home stories

Trash and recycling carts at the curb on a leafy street of triple-deckers, a garbage truck in the distance

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Holiday Trash Week: Which Towns Slide a Day

Which Greater Boston towns have posted Thanksgiving and Christmas 2026 trash and recycling changes, with the town source for each.

5 min read

This week

Useful now

Nov 15

Snow parking

Overnight parking bans start Nov 15 in North Reading and Woburn

10 of the 42 towns and cities whose rules we read begin their winter parking rules between now and Dec 21.

See your town

Nov 26

Trash and recycling

Thanksgiving week: 27 towns have posted their pickup plans

Which towns slide a day, and which do not, each linked to the town notice.

Check your pickup day

Nov 21

Tree lighting

Faneuil Hall Marketplace Annual Holiday Tree Lighting is the first big lighting

8 tree lightings have confirmed 2026 dates around Greater Boston.

All the dates

Holiday lights

37 light shows, walk-throughs and tree lightings with 2026 dates

Drive-through displays, gardens and zoos, and town lightings, each with its organizer’s page.

See the guide

100

Next 3 weeks

Confirmed events running or opening in the next three weeks

Geoff Tate: Operation: Mindcrime, The Final Chapter, Snowport, The Music Box Open Mic.

See the list

Nov 26

Holiday Desk

Thanksgiving: courts, USPS, Federal Reserve and package stores closed

What's Open on Holidays in Massachusetts, 2026, with every entry linked to its source.

Open the guide