It’s the final Friday of our tour, which means we’re heading into the home stretch for getting everything done. Rudi and I are hitting the road for Connecticut imminently in our attempt to beat an ice storm to my folks’ place.
The song for the day comes from John Lennon via Vance Gilbert, a folk singer who attended the same college Rudi and I did (although a few years before our tenure). Vance has a big, distinctive voice and is one of those singers they’d ask to kick off the gospel hour Sunday morning during folk festivals, partly because he really didn’t need a microphone to reach even the tents furthest from the stage and a sense of humor that lends itself to side conversations with the ASL interpreters about the signs they were using.
Today the Virtual Advent Tour door opens on Molly Totoro of my cozy book nook. Molly is a regular Virtual Advent Tour contributor and one of the few folks from the original tour who’ve migrated with us. Today she has a post that’s near to my Nutmegger heart in which she recounts a funny story relating to the Feast of Seven Fishes and shares a recipe for one of the dishes.
Happy Thursday, everyone! It’s the 21st day of December and the winter (or summer if you’re south of the equator) solstice. The shortest day of the year marks the start of Yule season (interestingly, did you know linguists think “Yule” and “jolly” both originate from one of Odin’s Old Norse names?), originally a pagan midwinter celebration beginning on the solstice that was later co-opted for Christian purposes. It’s also what’s called Blue Christmas, a Christian observance on the longest night of the year for those who are suffering from the loss of a loved one.
Today is the final night of Hanukkah and the final Wednesday of the Virtual Advent Tour. Can you believe we only have four days left?
A song for you:
We return to raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading for today’s post, which creatively combines her love of science, language, and Christmas and involves her high school physics students.
I’m going to give us a song or a film clip on posts this week, because we all need those extra few minutes to breathe deeply or sing loudly before facing the rest of the day. Since tonight will be the penultimate night of Hanukkah, I thought I’d share this favorite (which I think is from the New York City concert my family and I were lucky enough to attend when I was a kid):
For our final Tuesday of the Virtual Advent Tour, we return to kathy b at Compassionknit, who has a post for us on gingerbread creations. Yum!
We’re entering our final week of the Virtual Advent Tour, as this is the last Monday before Christmas. I hope your holiday plans are all going smoothly, that you’re getting to listen to seasonal songs while wrapping gifts and sipping eggnog or cider or resting with your feet up while you revel in a week mostly free of stress and obligation. I am a procrastinator and an uncompromising over-scheduler which means I have no idea what I’m going to write about in the next paragraph because I spent the day shopping, working on Christmas gifts, writing cards, and running around. The great news is that I have to be narrowing in on finishing some of those tasks because I’m running out of days in which to do them. But, as I pointed out in a card to a friend, I didn’t even start Christmas cards last year until Dec. 30, so I’m way ahead of that game. Plus, thanks to the laundry I got done yesterday, I even have clean underwear in which to tackle this week! That will make all the difference!
Ahem. Right. You came here to read something Christmassy, didn’t you?
How about some Christmas lights and window displays? Here’s a Coldplay song I’ve never heard before for a soundtrack (although clearly in both the following scenes they would be piping a tinny version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”):
This house is about half a mile away from where I live:
Want a closer look?
This is Arbo, who lives with “Mr. Holidays” (probably not his real name). He seems like a nice dog.
And on the other side of town, where I was shopping Friday afternoon, here are the windows of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate office:
Here’s my favorite detail:
Also, the house in the front right corner of the window is for sale. This would be an awesome place to live.
Welcome to the 17th day of the Virtual Advent Tour. Today is Gaudete Sunday.
“Gaudete” is the Latin word for “rejoice,” the first word of the verses from Philippians 4:4-5 spoken at the beginning of the Catholic service on the third Sunday of Advent. (My Catholic friends, if I’ve misrepresented that, please correct me.) The 16th-century carol “Gaudete” is sung here by Steeleye Span who charted in the U.K. with it back in 1972.
So, in honor of the day, let us rejoice that Christmas has nearly arrived and celebrate by heading over to visit Nina at The Cozy Pages, who has a post for us today in which she answers some questions about her holidays.
See you back here tomorrow for the start of the final week of the Virtual Advent Tour!
