What Would Jimmy Do?

Yesterday was Boxing Day — it lands on December 26 every year. It’s a day for giving, especially to the less fortunate. It’s the day after Christmas — of course it’s not as widely celebrated as Christmas here in the U.S., but Boxing Day is celebrated all over the world — Australia, Austria, canada, Germany, Greenland, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and others celebrate it as a special day.

In South Africa, Boxing Day is known as the “Day of Goodwill” — In Ireland, it is known as “Saint Stevens Day,” but it’s also sometimes referred to as Wren Day, a nod to an old tradition in which poor children would kill a wren, then sell the feathers to neighbors for good luck. When it is celebrated today, the wren is fake. 
And in some European countries, it is known as “Christmas II” or “Second Christmas Day.”
In Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, Boxing Day is the heaviest shopping day of the year. 

No one really knows where the name “Boxing Day” got its name. Many historians think Boxing Day’s name is derived from the church practice of opening alms boxes the day after Christmas and distributing money to the poor. Historically, British employers followed the church’s lead by giving workers and servants gifts or cash on December 26. Another thought is that the “box” refers to the boxes of gifts employers gave to their servants on the day after Christmas — in wealthy households, servants were often required to work on Christmas Day, but give the day after off to celebrate the holiday on their own. All good stories…. but no one knows for sure.
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Today is the first day of Kwanzaa. There wasn’t a “Kwanzaa” when I was growing up — in fact, Kwanzaa didn’t exist until 1966. Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday celebrating African-American culture that was created by American professor Dr. Maulana Karenga, following the Watts Riots of 1965.

Kwanzaa is a cultural celebration — not a religious one. It is a seven-day ritual to welcome the first harvest to the home for the New Year. The observance celebrates community rather than reliance on a higher power, and is observed annually from December 26 to January 1. Kwanzaa is a Swahili word for “first.”

Professor Karenga designed seven principles of Kwanzaa — to connect Black Americans to their African roots by uplifting the community by recognizing and honoring traditional African family values. These seven principles are known as Nguza Saba in Swahili and are the foundation Kwanzaa is built on — here are the concepts, in English and Swahili:

Unity (Umoja)
Self-determination (Kujichagulia)
Collective work and responsibility (Ujima)
Cooperative economics (Ujamaa)
Purpose (Nia)
Creativity (Kuumba)
Faith (lmani)

Traditionally, Kwanzaa has been celebrated in family homes, schools, and larger venues with  African musicians and dancers, food, poetry, and performances by children are showcased. At home, families gather to discuss the seven principles and light a candle each day — each candle represents a different principle of the seven principles

The seven principles are observed by millions of African people throughout the world — from Unity to Faith, these concepts call on celebrants to practice the best of what it means to be African and human in the world.
Everyone is encouraged to practice the principles of Kwanzaa that stress quality human relationships, strong ties within the family and community, and putting the collective community ahead of the individual. That sounds like a holiday that should be celebrated by everyone — not just the Black community…..
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As far as the Moon is concerned, this Christmas is kind of special. This December’s full Moon will rise around sunset for several nights in a row — December 25, 26 and 27. So this will kind of be a full Moon Christmas. 

Technically, a full Moon happens on Christmas only every 19 years or so. However this year the Moon will “appear” full to our eyes on December 25. The last, technically, full Moon to appear on Christmas was in 2015 and the next one will be in 2034. But this year — it’s close enough. 

This month’s full Moon is the first after the winter solstice. You may notice that this full Moon is nearly at the top of the sky — the winter solstice Moon takes the highest path along the sky and is above the horizon longer than any Moon.

December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon — a Mohawk name that conveys the cold conditions that usually begin this time of year. The December full Moon is also sometimes called the Long Night Moon (from the Mohicans) because it rises during the longest nights of the year. Other names that have been given to the full Moon in December include….
Drift Clearing Moon (Cree)
Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree)
Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala)
Hoar Frost Moon (Cree)
Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee) 
Moon when the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota)
And in Europe, ancient pagans called the December full Moon the Moon Before Yule in honor of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the Sun heralded by the winter solstice.

One of our kids favorite books was “The Night Before Christmas.” In the book, the narrator looks out his bedroom window for St. Nick and proclaims, “The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the luster of mid-day to objects below.” If we had snow on the ground this year, this would be an accurate description of the night.
Merry Christmas.
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In keeping with the Christmas theme, I thought a good topic for today would be the Star of Bethlehem — was the star a real star, or was it some kind of a miraculous vision? 

This is one of those stories that will never be answered to everyone’s satisfaction. This falls into the category that I put everything about religion in — It’s almost impossible to scientifically prove (or disprove) religions and their beliefs. Pretty much nothing about religion makes logical sense — you either have faith, or you don’t.

As far as the Star of Bethlehem, every backyard astronomer, or anyone that has looked at the sky for a while knows that you can’t get to a destination by following something in the sky. Because the Earth rotates, the position of the stars and planets change positions pretty quickly. From the Earth, everything in the sky rises from the east — and “sets” in the west. So no astronomical body can come to rest in one spot — over Bethlehem, or anywhere else. 

So — what was that Star that, according to Matthew, “Went before them, and stood above where the Christ child lay.” Something I discovered during my extensive research for this subject is that Luke, who is apparently regarded as the most historically accurate of the gospels, never mentions there being any star. 

Everything we know about astronomy and science points us in the direction of there being no actual star. But as I said, this isn’t an argument you can win with scientific facts — it’s back to faith again. If you believe the Magi were led by an actual star — why not a star only the Wise Men could see?

Of course nothing on science is ever closed. Maybe someday we’ll know what the Star of Bethlehem really was…. maybe it was entirely a matter faith… or maybe it was simply a miracle.
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We’re approaching Christmas — why do we celebrate Christmas every year on December 25? The short answer is that no one really knows. Like just about everything, lots of people have ideas and theories, but no one really does know for sure.

Almost all Western Christian churches celebrate Christmas on December 25, although some observe the main celebration on the night before — Christmas Eve. 
For the Christian community, the meaning of Christmas is the remembrance and celebration of God’s presence in our world through Jesus — God-made flesh. 

The actual date of Christ’s birth is unknown, but Christmas has been celebrated on the 25th of December since the 4th century. Scholars and experts don’t agree on exactly when Christ was born — or — the specific circumstances of the beginning of Christmas as we know it. The most popular belief is that sometime around the winter solstice, was the most likely day of Christ’s birth, but many think other dates are more probable, including several in the spring and fall. 

Somewhere around 350 A.D., Pope Julius I set December 25 as the date the Church would commemorate when Jesus was born. A fairly popular belief by many historians is that the Church stirred up interest in a festival at that time of year to counter pagan festivals surrounding the solstice — but no historical document or evidence unequivocally explains the reasons for setting the date as December 25. 
But no matter the reason, it is the season — Merry Christmas to everyone.
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This year is coming to a close, so as I do every year around this time, I make New Year’s Resolutions. A lot of people don’t make resolutions for the new year, and a lot of people make resolutions that they don’t keep. But lately, I usually make resolutions for the next upcoming year. As I’ve said in the past, keeping any resolutions you make is nice, but when you make resolutions you’re expressing to yourself a desire to change something about yourself, or accepting a new challenge. If you succeed, great — but jut making the effort is important, too. 

So I make resolutions because I do — and over the years, I’ve tried to make them more realistic and achievable. Sometimes when I don’t keep a resolution (usually for reasons beyond my control) I repeat it for the next year and give it another try. That’ll probably be the case again this year.

So for 2024, I do resolve:
• I resolve to think about becoming more fit, by driving by the Wellness Center every week. 
I’ve made this resolution in past years and for some reason, I’ve never achieved my goal. This year I’m going to put renewed effort into it and I have high hopes for success.

• I vow to eat more ice cream.
It appears to me that ice cream contains a lot of healthy ingredients, so this seems like an admirable resolution. I know it doesn’t sound that hard, but I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of, as yet, unseen challenges. 

• I vow to learn pig latin and speak only in that language on all appropriate occasions. 
I’ve been to a lot of foreign countries and know a few words in lots of languages, but I consider pig latin to be mostly American, and I think being familiar with it would be very patriotic.

• I vow to transform my life into a permanent vacation.
This may be my toughest resolution. I know some people think I’ve already accomplished this many times over, but even though I may look like I’m on vacation, I’m very physically or mentally active almost all the time.

• I resolve to work “time will tell” into a conversation at least once a week.

• And finally, I once again resolve to become really good at procrastination.
Even though I’ve tried this one before, I’m determined to achieve my goal this time.

So there you have it — once again my resolve to make me a better person and the world a better place. 
Making resolutions to begin the new year is a tradition that goes back thousands of years — it’s believed to have first been practiced by the ancient Babylonians. So I’m in good company — a lot of us think resolutions are important. I encourage everyone to resolve to do better in 2024. And don’t worry — the second Friday in January is recognized as “Quitters Day,” which is when most people give up on their resolutions. So if you can’t keep your resolutions — you’ve got an out, but it’s ok to just keep trying!
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Well, we’ve arrived at the winter solstice. If there was a popularity contest, I’m pretty sure that the winter solstice would win as the least popular solstice. The winter solstice occurs on the shortest day — and longest night — of the year. The good news is that after this day, we can look forward to the extra hours of sunlight coming in the new year. 

We talk about the winter solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, but the Southern Hemisphere has a winter solstice too. 
For us here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is closer during December, but the Earth’s tilt away from the Sun results in less direct sunlight and that causes colder temperatures. The same thing happens in the Southern Hemisphere, but not in December…. our winter solstice occurs around December 21. The Southern Hemisphere celebrates the winter solstice around June 21.

I’ve mention this before, but the winter solstice is actually just one brief moment when the Sun in exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn. But the event is marked by a whole day on our calendars. 
Astronomers consider the winter solstice to be the first day of winter, but meteorologists consider December 1st to be the first day of winter. 

The likelihood of seeing a full Moon on the night of the winter solstice is pretty slim. Since 1793, a full Moon has occurred on the winter solstice only 10 times. The last time it happened was in 2010. The next full Moon on a winter solstice won’t be until 2094.
A lot of our Christmas traditions can be directly traced to winter solstice celebrations. 

The word “solstice” originated from the Latin solstitium, meaning “point at which the Sun stands still.” Early on, everyone figured that everything revolved around the Earth — including the Sun. If you’re a student of history, you know that the astronomer Nicholas Copernicus figured out that everyone was wrong. 
So we’ve arrived at the winter solstice — with its oppressive darkness — but — the promise of brighter times ahead. 
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Well, it is the Christmas season, and a few days ago, I heard the term “Jimminy Christmas” used. I’ve heard this phase pretty much all my life — more so when I was younger than in recent years. ButI wondered about it and thought some extensive research might be in order….
Jimminy Christmas is a direct reference to Jesus Christ and dates back to 1664, when it was first recorded as “Gemini,” a twist on the Latin phrase Jesu domini. It turns out that the name of the Walt Disney character “Jimminy Cricket” was (probably) based on the same phrase.

And while we’re on the subject of Christmas, what is the origin of “Yuletide?” The word Yuletide originated from the word Yule, which was recorded in Latin writings as early as A.D. 726. At that time, the form of the word was guili. Bothe terms refer to a 12-day pagan feast celebrated around the time of year that has come to be known as the Christmas season.

Evergreen trees have been a traditional symbol of winter festivals for thousands of years — well before Christianity. Plants and trees that remained green all year had a special significance for people that lived in cold winter climates. Ancient people hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. Some believed that evergreens kept witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness away. Romans decorated evergreen trees with trinkets and topped them with an image of their sun god at the festival of Saturnalia. And Christians started using evergreen as a symbol about 400 years ago in Germany as a sign of everlasting life with God.

Have you ever wondered how the custom of giving Christmas gifts originated? Contrary to popular belief, it was not thought up by the department stores. The ancient Romans gave each other gifts on the calends (first day) of January, and the practice spread throughout the Roman Empire. 
Christians give gifts at Christmastime to commemorate the visit of the Magi or Wise Men. 

Many cultures believe in a “gift giver.” Many countries, especially some in Europe, celebrate Santa Claus or Father Christmas on St. Nicholas Day in December. In the Netherlands, children leave clogs or shoes out on the night of December 5 (St. Nicholas Eve) to be filled with presents by morning. In parts of Germany, they believe that it is the Christkind, an angle who comes on Christmas Eve with gifts. In parts of Italy, there is an old witch called Befana. In Spain, children await the Three Kings’ Day on January 6.

Claire still sends out Christmas cards — these days lots of people don’t. I guess it’s one of those Christmas traditions that is just slowly fading away. People used to write their own cards. The first printed Christmas card is thought to have been printed in England in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. Cole was a prominent educator and patron of the arts — he founded the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Since a man of his position needed to send out lots of cards, he asked a friend to create a design for him. His cards had the “To:” salutation at the top so he could personalize it. The design on the card was of a family party, beneath which were the words “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.” Apparently his cards got mixed reviews, but people realized the time savings of printed cards and started creating, or commissioning their own designs. Those early Christmas cards were very artistic and many became collectors’ items.

And while it maybe isn’t directly related to Christmas, I ran across an interesting explanation of the term “Godspeed.” The term dates back to a 15th-century song sung by English ploughmen on Plough Monday — the first Monday after Twelfth Day, that marked the end of the Christmas holidays. Before farm laborers went back to the fields, they dressed all in white and went from door to door drawing a plough and soliciting “plough money” to spend on a last celebration before returning to work. The song lyric “Godspeed the plough” expressed a wish for success and prosperity and was soon shortened to just “Godspeed.”

So Christmas has generated a lot of traditions over the years — most families have some. I’ve heard it said that tradition is nothing but ancestral peer pressure. I don’t agree — traditions serve as a path for creating lasting memories. Without traditions, our beliefs will get so diluted over time, we won’t remember who we are or where we came from — we’ll open our eyes one day and won’t recognize “our world.”
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Yesterday, we talked about the Spanish-American War and the fact that it was a pretty lop-sided affair. Something that I didn’t mention and probably should have, because it’s interesting, is that war kind of spawned the term “yellow journalism.” You may not be familiar with that term today, but if you read any of the newspapers that are left, or news in any format, you are exposed to it every day.

Most newspapers before and around the time the Spanish-American War started were typographically bland — they had narrow columns and headlines and very few illustrations. 
Then around 1897, they started incorporating half-tone photographs into most every issue and bold type and multicolumn headlines appeared. And newspapers started to take an activist role in news reporting.

Yellow journalism is a form of journalism that relies on eye-catching headlines, exaggeration and sensationalism to increase sales and it was actually born from a rivalry between the two newspaper giants of the era — Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal. 
The story goes that Hearst wanted New York Journal readers to look at page one and say, “Wow,” to turn to page two and exclaim, “Holy Moses,” and then at page three, shout “God Almighty!” 

That sort of attention-grabbing kind of exploded in the media’s coverage of the Spanish-American War. The newspapers around that time certainly heightened public calls for U.S. entry into the conflict, even though they didn’t cause the war. (There is no evidence that President Williams McKinley paid any attention to the yellow press to get foreign policy guidance.) 

But the notion lives on — like most media myths, it makes for a good tale — and — it strips away the complexity of the situation and offers an easy-to-grasp, if badly misleading, explanation about why the country went to war in 1898. It also says that the media at their worst can lead the country into a war it otherwise would not have fought.
No rational person believes that the yellow press instigated or brought on the war with Spain. Newspapers, after all, did not create the real policy differences between the United States and Spain over Spain’s  harsh colonial rule of Cuba.

The term yellow journalism, was coined about the time of the Spanish-American War, and that war provided fodder for the practice but the term was actually born from a rivalry between Pulitzer’s and Hearst’s newspapers. In 1895 Pulitzer started printing a comic strip featuring a boy in a yellow nightshirt, entitled the “Yellow Kid.” Hearst then poached the cartoon’s creator and ran the comic strip in his newspaper. A critic at the New York Press, in an effort to shame the newspapers’ sensationalistic approach, coined the term “Yellow-Kid Journalism” — referring to the cartoon. The term was then shortened to “Yellow Journalism.”
Even though you don’t hear it referred to as such, newspapers (and all news media) still practice “yellow journalism.” We’ve grown so use to it, we hardly notice anymore.
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As you well know, the news has been, and is, full of news about wars — Gaza and Ukraine headline the news most days. I guess there’s been a war going on somewhere just about forever. Some we can remember and the history books are full of them.

One war that we all learned about in school is the Spanish-American War. In case you don’t remember, the Spanish-American War was an 1898 conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in the U.S.’s acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.

But it’s an interesting war… and hey, they started it. Actually, they did. A little-known fact about this war is that Spain declared war on the United States first — on April 24, 1898. The United States, more than a little bit ticked off at being caught napping on the issue, declared war the very next day — and then backdated the declaration to April 21. The “Battle of the Declarations” was the very last thing the Spaniards won. 
A week later a fleet of American battleships steamed into Manila’s harbor and sank the entire Spanish Pacific fleet — like shooting fish in a barrel. Considering the Spanish fleet was anchored — and silent — it really was just that easy.

A couple of months after that, Americans landed in Cuba. Teddy Roosevelt had resigned as Secretary of the Navy to lead his “Rough Riders” into battle. The Rough Riders forced the Spanish fleet into a retreat that found it beached and burning up and down the Cuban shore line. The whole war took less than four months, and at the end of it, America got Guam and Puerto Rico for free, and bought the Philippines at a cut-rate price. And — in all the hubbub, the U.S. somehow managed to annex Hawaii. Apparently, some folks there still aren’t too happy about that.
Spain never had a chance. Oh sure, Spain could kick around Cuba, who’s bid for independence, and Spain’s brutal repression of that effort started the whole shebang to begin with. But when they tangled with the U.S., Spain got spanked by superior firepower, and a country that was itching to use it. 

Yet another little-known fact about this war was that for years the United States had a contingency plan to kick some serious butt up and down the entire Western Hemisphere — called the “Kimball Plan.” It was kind of the national equivalent of a sixth-grader waiting for that second-grader to rough up a younger kid, so he’d have a legitimate excuse to beat him up and take his lunch money.

The Spanish-American War was America’s debut out of the ranks of the second-raters. Up until that time, all our other wars — like those couple of wars with Britain and the nasty intramural squabble among the states, that we called the Civil War — had been fairly even skirmishes.

The Spanish-American War, however, was a slam dunk. We lost more people fighting the Filipinos, who apparently didn’t think much more of the Americans buying their country for a lousy $20 million, than we did fighting the Spanish. (Actually, there was a Philippine-American War — it lasted three years and cost 4,200 American lives.)

Since 1898, we’ve been involved in other lopsided wars — but in those wars, we had help, and we didn’t come away with any real estate to speak of. I’ve always heard that real estate is the gold standard in war gains….
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