Monday, March 17 is the annual celebration of St. Patrick, usually accompanied by leprechaun illustrations and green beer. In recent years, a meme depicting St. Gertrude of Neville stroking a cat she holds in her arms appears about the same time. Caption: “It happens every year: Patrick this and Patrick
Pillion is a new word in my vocabulary. According to Merriam-Webster, a pillion is a light saddle for women consisting chiefly of a cushion, OR a pad or cushion put on behind a man’s saddle, chiefly for a woman to ride on, OR a motorcycle or bicycle saddle for a
After the candied frenzy of Valentine’s Day, perhaps it’s only logical that National Tooth Fairy Day is February 28th. There’s a companion day six months later on August 22nd. Katie Davis created the first official day in 2003 when she wrote Mabel the Tooth Fairy and How She Got Her
The Great Animal Race Lunar New Year celebrations this year welcome the Year of the Snake, so named because the snake was a the sixth animal to finish in the Great Animal Race organized by the Jade Emperor when he created the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. He hoped
Janus, the Roman god of new beginnings, transitions, and thresholds has a brief moment of recognition in his namesake month. The ancient Roman calendar was a 10-month lunar year of 304 days, and an awkward gap of 61 days. The year began in March, the start of the new agricultural
For over 4,000 years people have wished each other a HAPPY new year as they engaged in cultural rituals to invite prosperity into the year ahead. In our family, we eat Hopping John on New Year’s Day, a Southern tradition to invite prosperity in the new year. The black-eyed peas
In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter Solstice will happen on December 21st, marking the season of Yule. It is the shortest day of the year, while also marking the slow return of longer days. Winter begins, but also heralds the hope of spring. At Stonehenge, Neolithic builders shaped the standing stones
December 9 is National Christmas Card Day. I presume one or more greeting card companies decreed if consumers haven’t organized their holiday cards two and a half weeks out from Christmas, they better get started. Cards to acquire — notes to write — stamps to stick. Now that so many
Thanksgiving will soon be here, and the feast whether vegan, gluten free, or traditional probably will include the perennial dessert favorite: Pumpkin Pie. Pumpkins and their various preparations have been part of the American diet since the first English colonists arrived in New England. One of the earliest recipes for
This is a Halloween tale about the devil, a trickster, and how Jack o’ Lanterns came to be. It is perhaps a cautionary tale proving that cleverness can and often does backfire. Once upon a time, there was an Irish trickster named Jack who had several monikers: Stingy Jack, Drunk
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