It’s shocking to realize: As you read this, Christmas is less than three weeks away. We suspect that some of you likely have finished all of your holiday shopping. Some of you probably had most of it taken care of before Black Friday and just used the weekend after Thanksgiving to mop up.

This editorial is not for you. We envy you. But we are not among you.

The rest of us still are engaged in the earliest stages of that time-honored holiday shopping routine. We are still making a list. A fortunate few among us have finished a list and now are checking it twice.

But as you solidify your shopping strategy for the holiday, allow us to make a suggestion: Make a pledge to keep it local this shopping season.

We understand that, to some extent, we’re preaching to the choir here: Our guess is that you choose local shopping options whenever possible. Good for you.

And good for Wallowa County as well. Consider these statistics:

• According to the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, shopping locally generates 70% more local economic activity per square foot than does shopping at a big-box store.

• The small businesses we frequent when we shop locally are the backbone of our communities: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that 67% of jobs in the United States come from small businesses. That’s especially true for the eight counties, including Wallowa, that are considered Eastern Oregon: Some 92% of the privately owned businesses in the counties have fewer than 20 employees. In fact, more than two-thirds of private businesses in the counties have four or fewer employees.

• Small businesses donate more of their earnings to nonprofits and community causes than do larger companies, according to the Good Business Network.

• A recent Consumer Reports survey found that more than 60% of respondents saying they’d be willing to pay more (up to 10% more) for the privilege of buying locally.

It just makes sense to frequent those local establishments that give so much back to their communities. And a successful holiday season often is the key to a successful year for many of these businesses.

So there’s a strong economic reason why it’s a good idea to shop locally.

But our hunch is that there’s another reason why so many of us prefer to shop locally: We know, deep down, it’s just better for us.

Think about it: You could plan shopping excursions that require jaunts up and down Interstate 84 (assuming it’s open), fighting crowds the whole way. Or you could stay close to home, checking off items on your list in just a couple of hours instead of braving treacherous freeway traffic with your car radio stuck on a Christmas music station. “Winter Wonderland” again? Didn’t they play that 15 minutes ago?

So here’s a tip of the hat to you as you set out to patronize local retailers in search of that perfect gift. It’s good for your community. It’s good for you as well. And if you want to spend the time you save at home, listening to “Winter Wonderland” over and over again on your stereo as a fire roars in the hearth, well, that will be our little holiday secret.