Various Holidays and Seasons

12th Night

In Elizabethan England, Twelfth Night (or Epiphany, January 6th), celebrated the visit of the three Magi to the Christ Child. This was a huge celebration in the 16th century, so a lot of preparation was necessary.  The day got off to its proper start with a big church service.  Queen Elizabeth I presented a gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh at the Chapel Royal, symbolizing her spiritual kinship with the Three Magi.

One of the traditional foods of Twelfth Night was the King’s Cake.  This could come in a number of different forms.  It might be a plum pudding, or it might be a cake made of flour, honey, ginger and pepper.  These cakes were special because a bean was baked inside the pastry.  If you found the bean, you were crowned “King of the Bean,” and you got to rule over the feast.  Some of the cake was set aside for the Magi, and this portion was given to the poor after the dinner was over. 

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is the annual holiday in the United States when our own favorite groundhog wakes up from his hibernation, pokes his nose out of his burrow, and lets us know if spring is about to be sprung.  Since not everyone has grown up with this particular tradition, I thought it might be useful to provide some basic information about this specialized form of weather prognostication.

The groundhog (AKA ground squirrel, wood chuck, or whistle pig) is a kind of small, ground-dwelling rodent that is fairly common in the United States.  This shy marmot hibernates all winter and comes out in the spring, making it the perfect choice for weather prediction.  This has become the opportunity for a whole celebration, and there are places that see to it that the groundhog is the center of attention on his special day.

Valentine's Day Chocolate

Even with Valentine’s Day in the middle of it, February can seem like a long winter month.  For this reason, we need all of our coping mechanisms.  And, for many of us, that means chocolate.  Fortunately, Valentine’s Day is an excellent excuse to get out the chocolate cookie recipes and indulge a little.

Of course, there was a time when chocolate was considered more of a problem than it is now.  In fact, it used to get a pretty bad press, probably because of all the sugar and fat it usually contains.  Sugar and unhealthy fats are still to be avoided, but there are a few ways around them.

I’m happy to say that chocolate (cocoa, that is) has been studied and found to be nutritious.  Chocolate is thought to be useful for hearth health and for reducing the risk of stroke, supporting memory, and containing antioxidants.  Of course, there are still some detrimental effects (like all those calories), but cocoa has been seriously upgraded.

If you want to get the health benefits, you have to eat the kind of chocolate that is high in cocoa, and that is mostly dark chocolate.  Fortunately, you can buy dark chocolate chips, and this is a quick and easy way to get mostly cocoa. 

Otherwise, enjoy your Valentine chocolate in good health.

The Snows of Spring

White clouds on the trees,
And the spring is very near
When the Sarvis blooms.

Spring does not come suddenly to these Appalachian Mountains; it sneaks up on you a little at a time.  There will be lovely days of sun and warm breezes, and then it will snow.

This time of the year, my grandparents started to give a name to each new snowfall.  When the daffodils made a tentative appearance (often ice covered) and the migratory robins turned up, it was time to start naming the snow falls.

I’m not sure in exactly which order the snows occurred, but there was the robin snow, the onion snow, the cabbage snow, the Easter snow, and the Sarvis snow.  The onion and cabbage snows happened when it was time to start planting these veggies, and the Easter snow is pretty much self-explanatory.  I understand that some of the neighbors called this last one the “Fuzzy Snow,” because it was often composed of big flakes that stuck to everything.

The one I remember the most is the Sarvis snow.  This is a snow that falls when the Sarvis or service berry trees are in bloom.

The wild Sarvis tree (Amelanchier arborea) is also known as the service tree, shadbush, or service berry tree, and probably a lot of other local names besides.  It has a white, five-petaled flower, and in this part of the mountains, it is pretty much the first tree to bloom in the spring.  You can see silvery patches amid the trees on the gray hills, and soon, these white blossoms are followed by the blooming redbud, the ironwood, and the dogwood trees.  Then spring has finally come—well, maybe.

Happy Easter

Fall Memories

Sometimes, our happiest memories surround those special traditions that our families enjoyed at when the seasons changed.  Fall was a favorite time of the year at our house, especially when we were children.  

When autumn was finally here, there was often a chance for a lot of fun with our friends and family.  It was the time for trick-or-treat and our home-made costumes.  It was also the time of the year when it was nice to sit around the fire (real or imagined), drink hot cider with cinnamon, eat pumpkin cookies, and hear scary tales.  

There were also a number of stories about autumn in the past.   Our families had a lot of stories about when they were abroad in the night causing mischief.  All the same, things seemed a lot gentler then, but maybe that is just the memory playing at trick or treat.

So, here we are again at the fall.  Many of the people who made these days special have passed like the falling leaves, but the memories are still bright and comforting.  Here’s hoping that the future is also warm and brightly colored.  Happy harvest time everyone.  Stay safe.