Yule Love It

The burning yule log is symbolic of the light that will return after the dark days of early winter and gives us an excuse to gather with family and friends before a roaring fire.

The tradition is an old one, going back to the Druid custom of choosing a large log from an apple or oak tree, lighting it afire, and praying that it would burn forever.

In England, the log was selected months before Christmas. Because it was believed that all who brought it in from the woods would be protected against harm for the ensuing year, everyone lent a hand, making the event itself a festive time.

Custom also decreed that a piece from the previous year's log be saved to light the new log. As the yule log burned, everyone danced and cavorted in its heat and warmth, safe in the knowledge that the evil spirits would stay away for another year.

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A Christmas Meme

I found this meme on Travis Erwin's blog and thought I'd play, for the fun of it. Feel free to jump in yourself. :)

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Egg nog, please.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? When my daughters were little, Santa never wrapped his gifts for them, but he does now. :)

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? I like both, and I've had both on my tree. I think this year might be a white lights tree inside. Outside on the balcony, we have white icicle lights and colored lights on a small tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Outside, I try to have things ready to turn on December 1. Inside, well, that's a different story. Whenever I get things cleaned and can access the decorations in the mess that is called a storage room. :)

6. What is your holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I think it would have to be the turkey dinner -- stuffing is a favorite, as are cranberries. And I'm not sure I don't prefer the turkey cold, the day after. If dessert was included, a piece of GOOD mincemeat pie is a favorite with tea.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: I remember many happy times -- going to cut the tree with my Dad was always a favorite outing. I do remember a Christmas that I thought I really heard Santa and his sleigh! My Mom and Dad still tell the story. My godparents had horses, and it wasn't unusual for them to harness them to the sleigh and go for a night ride on Christmas Eve. One year, when I was trying desperately hard to fall asleep, I heard the bells on their sleigh as they pulled into our driveway and thought it was Santa, coming early! I dove under the covers and was scared to death Santa would know I was still awake! :)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was old, by many standards, when I found out Santa's secret. I think I must have been close to 12 years old when Charlie Ross just blurted it out, and I never cared much for him after that!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, one.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With a wild assortment of ornaments -- some old, some new, some handmade, some store-bought.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Absolutely love it! (When all family and friends are safely off the roads, of course!)

12. Can you ice skate? I actually skate well. :)

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My favorite gifts have always been the homemade things my daughters made over the years, young and old.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being together with family.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Probably mincemeat pie, because we only have it for Christmas, although I love fruitcake, too.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas dinner at my parents, I think.

17. What tops your tree? An antique, glass spike that my parents bought for their first Christmas (similar, if not exactly, like this one).

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving, giving, giving...

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", sung by Andy Williams, is at the top of the list.

Printable Christmas Cards

You will find several nicely done, printable Christmas cards on this site.

Mistletoe Magic

Although many sources say that kissing under the mistletoe is a purely English custom, there's another, more charming explanation for its origin that extends back into Norse mythology.

It's the story of a loving, if overprotective, mother. The Norse god Balder was the best loved of all the gods. His mother was Frigga, goddess of love and beauty. She loved her son so much that she wanted to make sure no harm would come to him. So she went through the world, securing promises from everything that sprang from the four elements--fire, water, air, and earth--that they would not harm her beloved Balder.

Loki, a sly, evil spirit, found a loophole. The loophole was mistletoe. He made an arrow from its wood. To make the prank even nastier, he took the arrow to Hoder, Balder's brother, who was blind. Guiding Holder's hand, Loki directed the arrow at Balder's heart, and he fell dead. Frigga's tears became the mistletoe's white berries.

In the version of the story with a happy ending, Balder is restored to life, and Frigga is so grateful that she reverses the reputation of the offending plant--making it a symbol of love and promising to bestow a kiss upon anyone who passes under it.

Yes, Westaff, There Is A Santa Claus..."Ho, Ho, Ho"

Just when you think you've heard it all, someone, somewhere, comes up with another imbecilic jaw-dropper, and such was the topic of discussion and viewer mail this morning on our local Breakfast Television show.

A company that hires seasonal Santas in Sydney, Australia recently encouraged its St. Nicks to drop the “Ho, ho, ho” for a “Ha, ha, ha.”

The U.S-based Westaff says it was leaving it to their Santas' discretion, but that in the U.S. the word ‘ho’ had become synonymous with a derogatory slang term for a prostitute. And the phrase, they thought, might frighten children or make them uncomfortable.

Give me a freakin' break! Political correctness is one thing, but I think this crosses the line into sheer idiocy! Any woman who would misconstrue Santa's traditional "Ho, ho, ho" for a derogatory slur would have to be a complete and total moron! And make children uncomfortable? Puleez! I doubt there are many 3-year-olds who'd get the point they're trying to make -- to children, to those who believe, Santa brings only hope, joy, love and magic.

Most activities associated with Santa Claus are extraordinary, such as delivering presents to all of the believing children in one night, how he squeezes down chimneys, how he enters homes without chimneys, why he never dies, and how he makes reindeer fly -- "magic" is used to explain his actions. In a world and at a time when we ask teenagers to go to war, don't we take that magic away soon enough? Leave Santa alone!

It's a reflection of the "skepticism of a skeptical age".[1] It's sad and pathetic and ridiculous. Why mess with a tradition that brings happiness and awe to millions of children around the world...children of all colors, creeds, religions, boys and girls alike? Santa's "Ho, ho, ho" is as much a part of his persona as his white beard, or his rosy cheeks, his ample belly or his flying reindeer.

Published in The New York Sun, 1897:

"There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished...You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond."[2]

Let Santa be...Santa. Ho-Ho-Ho.

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[1][2] Francis P. Church, The New York Sun, September 1897

Origin of the Christmas Card

The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in London, 1843, and featured an illustration by John Callcott Horsley. The picture, of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. A batch of 1000 cards was printed and sold for a shilling each.

Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials. In 1875 Louis Prang became the first printer to offer cards in America, though the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market. The advent of the postcard spelled the end for elaborate Victorian-style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned.

Cards continued to evolve throughout the 20th century with changing tastes and printing techniques. The World Wars brought cards with patriotic themes. Idiosyncratic "studio cards" with cartoon illustrations and sometimes risque humor caught on in the 1950s. Nostalgic, sentimental, and religious images are once again popular, and reproductions of Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain.

"Official" Christmas cards began with Queen Victoria in the 1840s. The British royal family's cards are generally portraits reflecting significant personal events of the year. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first official White House card. The cards usually depict White House scenes as rendered by prominent American artists. The number of recipients has snowballed over the decades, from just 2000 in 1961 to 1.4 million in 2005.

Modern Christmas cards can be bought individually but are usually sold in packs of the same or varied designs. A revival of interest in paper crafts, particularly scrapbooking, has raised the status of the homemade card and made available an array of tools for stamping, punching and cutting. Advances in digital photography and printing have provided a more technological way to personalize cards with photos, messages, or clip art.

Technology may also be responsible for the decline of the Christmas card. The estimated number of cards received by American households dropped from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004. Email and telephones allow for more frequent contact and are easier for generations raised without handwritten letters - especially given the availability of websites offering free email Christmas cards. Nonetheless, with 1.9 billion cards sent in the U.S. in 2005 alone, they are unlikely to disappear any time soon.

From the beginning, Christmas cards have been avidly collected. Queen Mary amassed a large collection that is now housed in the British Museum. Specimens from the "golden age" of printing (1840s-1890s) are especially prized and bring in large sums at auctions. In December 2005, one of Horsley's original cards sold for nearly £9000. Collectors may focus on particular images like Santa Claus, poets, or printing techniques.

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It's Fruitcake Day!

Yes, it's time to bake that traditional, fruity wonder -- the fruitcake! Now, I know there are many of you who don't like fruitcake. I think, like coffee, it's an acquired taste. Sometimes, it's the bitter pieces of candied peel that turn people off, so I leave it out of my recipe. Neither do I include anything with a very strong or overpowering flavor, such as candied ginger. A well made fruitcake is moist, buttery, and loaded with fruit and, to me, is one of the special traditions and rituals of Christmas. I've made a large enough recipe this year to make three cakes so I can gift one to my Mom and Dad.

Making fruitcake is hard work! There is the cutting up of fruit and nuts the night before, remembering to set out the butter to soften...the eggs to warm to room temperature. Once the batter has been assembled, I add it to the fruit rather than adding the fruit to the batter, and mix it with my clean, bare hands. I find that's the only way to make sure all those jewel-colored bits of fruit are incorporated into the mix.

I'll post a photo to accompany this post when the hand-wringing is over and the cakes have come out of the oven and cooled.

So, who else clings to this delicious tradition?

For those who are interested, check out these links at The Society for the Protection and Preservation of Fruitcake!