December Sign-in

[Wren of the Brown]

What traditions do you participate in outside of the usual December holidays?

 

My Catholic school participated in a Christmas parade and our marching band would blare out off-key Christmas tunes. They gave me the largest bass drum despite the fact that I only weighed sixty pounds soaking wet. We would start around 5 p.m. over the bridge behind the library and make our way downtown. Overall, I think we marched a mile, which is a huge parade in a town this size.

[LadyLiliana]

Probably my favorite tradition is celebrating Boxing Day (December 26) with friends.  Two of my friends host a large party (80-100 guests) and serve traditional foods.  We play board games and visit with friends from around the area and de-stress from the Christmas rush.  Small gifts are exchanged (trinkets, bath salts, etc.) and the hosts provide a gift for each person who shows up.  Some are pre-selected, others are wrapped and numbered and recorded on a list so that they can still be identified and given to the person who will appreciate them most at the party.  While this has a lot of elements of the "traditional" December activities, I still feel that it is a unique and wonderful tradition with friends.  

 

May you all have a joyous December and enjoy the family and friends close to you.

 

~Lyliann

[Ryrin]

We celebrate Chanukah. My husband makes latkes (I like the ones with 1/2 sweet potatoes in them.) We light the candles, say the blessing, and open a gift each night. It's nice to have this for 8 days. We also attend Chanukah get togethers with friends.

[Gabriel Kross]

I don't really do anything tbh.

[LadyWordsmith]

Well since Lyliann has already mentioned our friends' Boxing Day party I shall talk about favorite holiday traditions of holidays past as well as present. One of my favorite things was something the neighborhood I lived in during High School did as an entire neighborhood, which was a Luminaria. Every single house in the 200-house neighborhood lined the edges of their front lawns with paper sacks filled with sand, and candles, and lit them at sundown on Christmas Eve. It was gorgeous! We loved to drive through the neighborhood admiring not only the house-lights, but the fact that the entire neighborhood was lined in golden light. 

 

The neighborhood I lived in when I was very little had my favorite tradition: the Neighborhood Christmas Caroling and Holiday Party. Anyone who wanted to Carol hiked around the neighborhood (which owned song books for the occasion) and sang to all the folks who stayed in (normally the elderly or those with very small children), and then everyone met up at a house for pot-luck treats and festivities, and presents from our resident Santa Claus (a neighbor who wore the suit and brought one item of exactly what kids asked for on their lists every year.) 

 

Now, to be amusing, I think one of my favorite Christmas traditions now is our bialys! My uncle comes from New York every year for the holiday and always brings us fresh bialys from Kossar's in Manhattan. 

[Neeto]

hello everyone!

[U4ea]

Hey, Neeto! 

 

I don't usually do much outside of the usual Christmas stuff, though next month will be the first time I get to celebrate 12th Night with my Shire. :) 

[Ryrin]

What do you do there?

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Here - don't really do much except for singing gigs.

[dawnflower8]

Here! We celebrate St. Nicholas' Day.

[Gudrean]

here