Twelfth Night

 

 Gabriel Metsu
 "The Lord of Misrule"

Today is the last of the 12 days of Christmas. January 5th is the Epiphany-- a feast day which marks the visitation of the Magi. Epiphany is a Greek word, meaning a sudden comprehension.

The Three Kings, depicted in a masterpiece 6th century mosaic. Such forward urgency and yearning expressed with tiny bits of stone.

In medieval England, they shared a cake containing a bean and a pea. The people who found them (hopefully without breaking a tooth) became the "King and Queen of Misrule."  Why does it feel like life was more fun back then?

For one night only, everything was topsy-turvy and high lords became peasants, women became men and vice versa.  Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night is all about mistaken identities. 

Twelfth Night was the finale of feasting, drinking and merry-making before things returned to dull daily life for the remainder of winter. And Lent just around the corner...

King cake is popular in New Orleans today and during the carnival season before Lent. You won't find anything that lurid in a Seattle bakery, but the one I bought yesterday in a moment of weakness is almost as wild. Obviously for people who can't make decisions. 

Another round of snow expected in the lowlands. Give us a break. The highlight of our day is making bean soup with the Christmas ham bone. We're trying to lay low during this surge (as much as possible.)

And that old song by the Byrds keeps running through my head: "You Ain't Going Nowhere."