Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say...

....On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day, That's the island greeting that we send to you From the land where palm trees sway.......Great Song! Originally sang by Bing Crosby of course.

Well, the family is almost here even though I spent half a day switching flights around thanks to the Snow Miser! We are but days away from sugar cookies, the sounds of caroling and sleighbells on rooftop ~ It's in the air yes indeed! The heat wave we're having, 'palm trees swaying' and air conditioning pumping has really gotten me thinking about the Christmas spirit. Is it in snowflakes and snowplows? Is that where the heart of christmas beats? Or the traditional midnight mass on the eve of our Christs birthday? I admit that celebrating christmas in shorts while sipping a margarita on my back porch might be out of the norm tradition wise, but then again where and when did snow become paired with christmas? A holiday that celebrtates the birth of Christ which took place in the desert. I have to say it does feel strange this year not having twinkling lights illuminating walkways of white blankets but boy does it feel great to sip those margaritas! Speaking of the spirit of things, let me share this great quote with you from Chris in the Morning (Alaska style) on caroling:

"I hear Christmas Carols -- All those Human voices Ascending to Heaven in a Harmonic Pyramid of Sound -- And I get very Zoned, very Light in my Galoshes. That happen to you?"

- Chris Stevens

This will be my last Entry until the New Year and My wish for you this very Special and Holy Holiday week is to stay warm with your loved ones near, share your blessings and spread the love (and have a drink for me). Until 2009 friends -- All my love and have a very merry Christmas, I hope to see you all soon in 2009!

My first Article for the SW FL Parrot was published this Month in the December Arts Edition. I'm very excited to be a part of this new Publication! I am finishing up my article for January, it will be along the theme of 'New Year-Fresh Starts'. Here is the Site Link, you can read it online every month: http://swflparrot.com/parrot

A Key West Santa

Christmas - True Parrothead Style

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas....

Sitting here listening to carols filled with yule tide greetings and cheer....I can't help but to wonder what exactly does 'Yule' mean and what origin did this word steam from?? According to my research it comes from several different backgrounds, each manifesting their own meaning. Yule itself shares the same root as Jolly. It is believed to have derived from an old English word 'yoole' which comes from the German Pagan Feast that lasted 12 days and became to the Christian faith - Christmas! Before you nod off bare with me-- There is one origin in particular that I found of GREAT interest b/c it's part of my heritage & fascinating, here is the excerpt........

Yule celebrations at the winter solstice predate Christianity. Yule is a feast celebrated by sacrifice on mid winter night January 12, according to Norwegian historian Olav Bø. There are many references to Yule in the Icelandic Sagas but few accounts of how Yule was celebrated beyond the fact it was a time for feasting. Swedish kings sacrificed male slaves every ninth year during the Yule sacrifices. 'Yule-Joy' with dancing continued through the Middle Ages in Iceland but was frowned upon after the Reformation. The ritual of slaughtering a Boar on Yule survives in the modern tradition of the Christmas Ham and the Boars Head Carol:

"On Yule Eve the best boar in the herd was brought into the hall where the assembled company laid their hands upon the animal and made their unbreakable oaths. Heard by the boar these oaths were thought to go straight to the ears of Freyr
himself. Once the oaths had been sworn the boar was sacrificed in the name of Freyr and the feast of boar flesh began. The most commonly recognised remnant of the sacred boar traditions once common at Yule has to be the serving of the boar's head at later Christmas feasts."

.......Hungry?