It's The Holiday Season: 3 kings

Showing posts with label 3 kings. Show all posts

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Epiphany 2024 - The Three Kings

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Epiphany

Got most of the remaining tchotchkes put away. Lit the candles in the dining room right before dinner.

Shortly after dinner got everything else put away.

Sylvester was poking his nose around where the tree used to be and looked a little confused.

Epiphany 2024 - Setting out the Kings

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Epiphany

Cigar in the garage after my time with Noel.

After that I set out the Three Kings in the manger scene.

Epiphany 2024: De-Christmasing

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Epiphany

Started the process of de-Christmasing this morning. Got the ornaments off the tree.

Took down the red lights and eventually the white ones too.

Got together with Noel for lunch and shopping. This was not like one our post holiday shopping adventures of the past. We used to hit the stores a day or two after Christmas for the sales but not this year. In fact, I didn't even buy anything. However, Noel got me a couple of sweet little gifts. Actually these were more like white elephants since she's downsizing from her vast amounts of Christmas stuff. Still, very sweet and I like them very much.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Christmas Season 2022/2023 - 12th Day of Christmas: Snow Day!

Thursday, January 5, 2023

The above photo was taken early this afternoon. However, all Christmas tchotchkes were down by the end of the day. I'm generally not suspicious but with all the political malarky going on in this country I'm not taking ANY chances by having this stuff up beyond Epiphany.

Got the 3 Kings in the manger scene briefly but they too were down by the end of the day.

Another day of distance learning due to the snow so I got in my first cigar of the New Year today while on my lunch hour.

This past Christmas season was unusually subdued this year and I'm not quite sure why.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Epiphany 2021

Wednesday, January 6, 2020

Epiphany 2020. Sadly, today was a day brimming with pure ugliness and evil. The president incited a mob attack on the United States Capitol. I decided to watch the electoral votes be certified and then watched with concern and then growing horror as supporters of this president stormed the Capitol.

I don't have words. Actually, I do but all of the ideas in my head are bottle-necking some I'm having a hard time formulating anything coherent.

Monday, January 4, 2021

Christmastide 2020: The 10th Day of Christmas - Irish Cream

Sunday, January 3, 2021

A little Irish cream before I start my dry January tomorrow.

The kings are approaching the manger scene in the dining room.

Athena enjoys a Sunday siesta.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Christmas Season 2015/2016 - Twelfth Night

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Twelfth Night was a low-key event this year due to the business of being back to work this week. However, it was still nice to give Christmas an official send-off. By the way, I never did find the 3 Kings figures I misplace last year to add to the manger scene.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Twelfth Night Part 2

From Wikipedia:

"Twelfth Night is a festival, in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany. Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night on either 5th January or 6th January; the church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, celebrates Twelfth Night on the 5th and 'refers to the night before Epiphany, the day when the nativity story tells us that the three wise men visited the infant Jesus'. In Western Church traditions the Twelfth Night concludes the Twelve Days of Christmas, although in others the Twelfth Night can precede the Twelfth day. Bruce Forbes wrote that 'In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas, or what the English called Christmastide. On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself.'"

I say if there is all of this disagreement regarding when Twelfth Night falls, then why not just compromise and celebrate on both evenings!

Today at school, Gina brought a Kings' Cake that had five small Baby Jesus figures baked into it. Gina said that it is a Mexican tradition that if you find the Baby Jesus in your piece of cake you need to bring tamales to share on February 2. February 2nd is the Feast of Candlemas which refers to the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Gina who had shared the cake with a number of people already, said that she found the first Baby Jesus. I asked if that meant that she would bring tamales. She just laughed.

Today, I took down some more Christmas decorations, ate some gingerbread men and spritz cookies, and am having another shot of Jagermeister all while listening to Christmas music as I write this. A small celebration, but a celebration none-the-less. Thus concludes my second Twelfth Night.