Christmas Day 9

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me … nine ladies dancing.

It appears we have yet another day with people as the object of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Nine ladies dancing sounds quite joyful and enthusiastic and, apparently, in the Middle Ages, the dances themselves were known as caroles. Brownielocks.com gives us this further information:

… the carole was very popular court entertainment. But, prior to this time, dancing was considered a sin of the flesh and was connected with the devil. Since most dances were done in circles, the direction in which one danced also mattered. Slowly, dancing got accepted --- but only if done in the correct direction! The Christian church considered dancing to the left bad, but dancing to the right [equaled] good. However, many non-Christian people danced from left to right because they were worshipping the sun as a way of representing the sun’s movement from east to west … By the 15th century the word for carole was replaced with the word branle, because dancing was associated with songs. Eventually, the songs turned into stores, like those about Christmas. This is how the term Christmas Carols came about.

Of course, if you are a churchgoer, like me, you may prefer the “religious” meaning of these lovely ladies twirling: the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are, in no particular order: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As I know as little about these nine fruits as I do about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, I may have to add them to my Bible study list for the New Year. Any suggestions for study materials would be greatly appreciated.

Tasks for today brought me closer to the end of my “Christmas vacation” attitude and closer to the “reality” of post-holiday life, namely I accompanied my husband to his annual endocrinology appointment. As a thyroid cancer survivor, he undergoes some annual follow-up work that, normally, isn’t too complicated. This year, however, brought some additional cardio evaluations that are currently being scheduled: a stress test, some lipid bloodwork, and a sleep apnea test. I’m sure I will share more about these as they come to pass.

My daughter and I also visited our neighbor, Jan. She is a great collector of all things “pig,” so we took the opportunity to give her a small Christmas gift --- a lithograph of two pigs snuggling side-by-side on a fence, watching the sunset. Since Jan has a new boyfriend, it seemed quite appropriate.

Last, but not least, Katherine the Great had a meeting to work on the spelling list for our upcoming homeschool spelling bee. This is her third year choosing the challenge words and she seems to enjoy the process just as much as when she first took the job. This year, she is working with one of our most experienced homeschool moms to ensure that each round is fair throughout. The bee itself is on Monday night next, so the list will need to be finished soon. Sounds like tomorrow will be back to the homeschool grindstone, so to speak.

Hopefully, your “Christmas vacation” mindset isn’t turning into a grindstone too quickly. Smooth transitions are always preferred, at least around here. Tomorrow, the Christmas cleanup begins in earnest so all traces of the holiday are packed away by Epiphany. After all, Lent is just around the corner.