As some of you already know - and the rest are about to find out, and would have somewhat sooner if I hadn't interrupted with this - MY WIFE and I celebrate Christmas on January 6th.
"January 6th? Why is that?", some of you say.
"Because we are traditionalists," we reply.
January 6th, otherwise known as Little Christmas or Epiphany, is the date given, in some Christian tradition, as the day the Three Wise Men (or Three Kings, or Magi) visited the infant Jesus and presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
(I assume Mary and Joseph appreciated the thought, and maybe especially the gold, but what an infant would do with such things is beyond me.)
Aside from historicity, celebrating on January 6th allows us to reserve our holiday best for other relatives and friends on or around December 25th. We are less harried and hurried during the days when most Americans are collapsing from fatigue. We have a spectacularly relaxed personal celebration on the 6th, reserved exclusively for the two of us.
(For those with an eye for bargains, it also allows one to pick up various Christmassy doo-dads and ephemera at cut-rate prices. Stores remove all vestiges of commercial xmas trappings immediately after the 24th, moving on to Valentines Day and other more profit-driven concerns. That's not a huge incentive for us to celebrate 'late', but it is there and may be of use to you, if you wish.)
In addition to our usual January 6th festivities, we will also be celebrating another Christmas on the 12th this year. That's because my cousin, Scott, and his lovely wife, Andrea, were sick on December 25th and missing from the usual Christmas Day at my Uncle Rick's place. We will be having the clan gather again on the 12th to celebrate with Scott and Andrea. This extension of the season is not unwelcome. Other than a chance to see good people and enjoy their company, it means another day of gifts and another chance for me to cook a Christmas dinner. Yay! And Yum!
So, Merry Little Christmas!
Soon, with more better stuff.
[Illustrations from http://www.hzmre.com/holidays/adventtable.htm]
Happy Epiphany, Jim.
ReplyDeleteVery clever to stretch Christmas out over 3 weeks. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMerry Little Christmas, Jim.
ReplyDeleteSo I've just spent the day putting Christmas away until next year! So a very Merry Happy Little Christmas to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteI always wait till Little Christmas to take down the decorations. I could never wait that long for stuff.
ReplyDeleteI always wait till Little Christmas to take down the decorations. I could never wait that long for stuff.
ReplyDeleteI like it; you have at least 3 Christmas celebrations. The more the merrier. Especially nice that you do the cooking.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and your Dear Wife.
ReplyDeleteI love your profile photo on the blog.
Sending smiles to you and your family.
Jackie
You changed your profile pic ...hmmmm
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about the Little Christmas thing
It makes a lot of sense to celebrate Christmas early in the year, before Easter
Well, if giving gifts on Epiphany was good enough for the Magi, it's good enough for me, dammit!
ReplyDeleteHappy Little Christmas! You are in good company, celebrating today with the Orthodox Churches that still follow the Julian Calendar.
ReplyDeletemerry little christmas to you and YOUR WIFE.
ReplyDeleteA Merry Little Christmas to you and YOUR WIFE, Jim. I think it's a lovely tradition!
ReplyDeletethat is my favorite christmas song and i only learned this christmas day that it was from that movie! merry christmas
ReplyDeleteI worked in retail for 17 years. I had a store manager whose entire family also worked in retail.
ReplyDeleteThe celebrated Christmas in February.
I totally get it now.
I like the way you think. I always have trouble with the abrupt end of Christmas. I'd be happy if it started later, a lot later, and ended later also.
ReplyDeleteI have not taken my trees down and wish to celebrate all year in some ways I do
ReplyDeleteEvery year on January 6th I think of you guys celebrating your traditional Christmas holiday. Sounds like you will have a super festive early part of 2014! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteBelated Happy Merry to you and yours for the 6th. Early Merry Greeting for the 12th.
ReplyDelete