The Garden of the Seasons: "The Seven Days of Christmas"

         We have to make the season last. My sort-of-silly memoir of  Christmas week last year, titled "The Seven Days of Christmas," is published on "Beneath the Rainbow." 
         Written last year, the story references family events in the first half of that traditional "Twelve Days of Christmas" period observed in days of yore in many countries. The twelve days run from Dec. 25, the conventional birth date of Jesus, to Jan. 5, the last day before the celebration of Epiphany on Jan. 6, marking the revelation of Jesus's divinity to the three wise men. 
          That is to say, you can celebrate in a festive Medieval way, feasting, drinking, and hiring players to perform entertainments -- one of Shakespeare's comedies was called "Twelfth Night" because it was written to be performed at a Twelfth Night celebration at the English court -- until Epiphany. Then you have to get serious for a while.
          Nothing so grand happens in my little remembrance of the trials and triumphs in our last year's "Seven Days of Christmas": A sudden snowstorm fouls up plans. We almost miss a ferry. I have a briefly tempestuous exchange with a brat suffering from an excess of self-esteem attempting to keep us off the boat. 
         A very brief excerpt:  


                “You’re way over cut-off time,” he said
            Cut-off time? The phrase was new to me. I pondered it.
            Is that the time when I cut off his ear?

          Once we get on the water, however, everything goes swimmingly. 
           You can see for yourself at this link taking you to the story posted on "Beneath the Rainbow," an active online journal, putting up new stories every week.

 http://beneaththerainbow.com/the-seven-days-of-christmas/