Twelfth Night

‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:’

Journey of the Magi

T.S. Eliot

Today is the twelfth day of Christmas and the official end of the holiday season. January 6th is the Epiphany, when Jesus was baptized and the Three Kings came bearing gifts.

It is unlucky to leave Christmas decorations up past today. As with many other holiday traditions, this superstition has pagan elements.  People once believed that tree-spirits lived in greenery like holly and ivy used to decorate their homes.  The festive season provided shelter for these spirits during the winter, but they needed to be released outside once Christmas was over or the spring crops would fail.

I'll probably lug the Christmas "bird" dishes back down to the basement today. I love them but the party is over, and now I miss eating off plain blue and white china.

We usually leave the cheerful outdoor lights up until at least Groundhog Day, when there is finally noticeably more daylight in the Northwest.  Many of our neighbors do this also, so it isn't considered weird or lazy like in some parts of the country.

The temperature hasn't gone much above freezing all week.  Oh! the snow-covered Cascade and Olympic mountains are beautiful. It feels like you can reach out and touch them from Seattle.

Maryanne and I took the ferry over to Vashon Island and got in a short, cold trail ride yesterday.  The views of Mt. Rainer were spectacular, but I didn't fumble off my gloves to try and take a picture from horseback.

I stole other people's photographs off the Internet instead. 
It really looked just like this: