Porthole

I don't merry merry nor happy happy.

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Blogging Circle of Friends   (E) A group for WDC bloggers. #1901868 by Lyn's a Witchy Woman

Please discuss one of these quotes or both in your blog

"Freshly cut Christmas trees smelling of stars and snow and pine resin—inhale deeply and fill your soul with wintry night." ~ John J. Geddes

"Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words." ~ Harlan Miller

The scent of pine is great. A few boughs made into a wreath should suffice. No need to sacrifice a tree. The plastic ones may look pretty but fake = fake. Winter? In Costa Rica it's a tad cooler and dryer; they cut cedar. Many set up a posada. Snow is a northern thing. This is the ideal "German" holiday spin on the Christian holy day. I grew up around it but it's not universal. Geddes is describing something that is known and meaningful to him and many others but not all.

Miller hits a nerve. Are we silly? Yes. Do we indulge? Yes. Many put an emphasis on 'gifts'. Many more put an emphasis on bigger and more expensive = better. But is it because "we don't know how to put our love into words"? I'm skeptical. I've experienced love random days of the year, freely gifted.

Re Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays (BCOF from the 16th). [edited]

I don't [say either].

Years of getting Christian holidays off whether I wanted them or not while I had to beg for my holy days cured me of any ho-ho-ho.

Yes, I know the reason for the season. Yes, I know about the previous ["pagan"] holy days. But many Christians do not know nor seem to care.

I won't join in a secular shop-until-you drop either. And the commercial usurption of a religious holy day offends me deeply.

The religious myths and stories are nice (the [details are] obscured by time and not-so-important) and some of the songs [are nice] too. And acknowledging each equinox and solstice has some community use.

Spring: renewal, planting, fertility.
Summer: joy, fecundity, a break from work.
Autumn: harvest, planning, a putting-away.
Winter: hibernation, calm, peace.

But no, I don't merry merry or happy happy.

Lantern festival in Taiwan 2020:

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