Here it is December… the 12th, and last, month of 2021. There’s lots of holidays and festivities his month. Besides Christmas, there is Saint Nicholas Day, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, St. Lucia’s Day, Bill of Rights Day, Wright Brothers Day. Boxing Day and of course, the Winter Solstice.
St. Nicholas Day (December 6) honors St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children and is celebrated around the world with various activities from nuts for presents to stockings or shoes filled with sweets.
St Lucia’s Day (December 13) isn’t as well known as St Nicholas Day, it’s long been associated with festivals of light. Before the Gregorian calendar reform in 1752, her feast day occurred on the shortest day of the year… and contributed to the saying “Lucy light, Lucy light, shortest day and longest night.”
A day that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves and usually gets lost in all the holiday festivities is the Bill of Rights Day on December 17.
December 21 is the Winter Solstice — the astronomical first day of winter (in the Northern Hemisphere.) It’s the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
December 26 is Boxing Day in the UK and Canada, and the first day of Kwanzaa.
And in December, like every other month, we talk about the weather…. frost on the shortest day is said to indicate a severe winter. But remember the old saying, December changeable and mild, the whole winter will remain a child.
So the last month of the year always seems to be busier than any of the other months, so I’m sure there’ll be plenty to blog about in the weeks to come….
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