After months of preparation and anticipation, Christmas is over too fast. The excitement builds to a climax on Christmas morning then abruptly stops. It's no wonder children get cranky and people feel drained and tired. Shopping the after-Christmas sales doesn't fill the void.
In this country, the commercial Christmas "season" starts in about September, but the traditional Christian season was just the opposite. The twelve days after Christmas were the dozen days in the liturgical calendar of the Western Church between the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child and the coming of the Magi. Today is the feast day for St. John the Apostle.
The the Middle Ages, December 25th was just the beginning of a period of feasting and merrymaking that ended in Twelfth Night, the traditional end of the Christmas season.
I like the idea of giving a little gift to your loved one for each of the 12 days after Christmas. And of course the gifts don't have to be "things," like in that tiresome song we've heard a thousand times by now.
On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens...
My gift to John today is a respite from leftover ham: fresh vegetable and "French Hen" stir-fry with brown rice for dinner. Some of the pants in this house are getting a bit snug. Just saying.
Amanda and Tom are headed back to Twisp today. It's snowing again in the mountains, but nothing like last week's storms. In fact, we might finally be going into a welcome dry and cold weather pattern. The snowy mountains should be a spectacular sight from Seattle when they finally "come out."
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