"On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - 8 maids a-milking ..."

On a day when many are not as festive as they were the night before, we celebrate another day of Christmas. Around the neighborhood, decorations are coming down, and businesses are offering clearance prices on all the stuff they didn't sell in the past 5 weeks. What is your focus today?

This carol was written at a time when refrigeration did not exist and milk would spoil soon after milking. The gift of the 8th day was probably something that would be assumed - in order for the maids to be milking, they needed cows, something few could afford. continue reading ...

"On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - seven swans a-swimming ... "

I was back to work today, so the blog post is out a bit late, but it was on my mind quite a lot. How could I reflect Christmas, surrounded by whirlwind and with another celebratory event looming (New Year's Eve)? Nothing tied to the number 7 or swans was jumping out at me. Throughout the day, though, those swans kept swimming through my mind. continue reading ...

"On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - 6 geese a-laying ... "

Have you ever read or watched "The Hithchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"? Or, have you ever done the math for the 12 Days of Christmas? I've done the first - read and watched THGTTG. But, until now, I haven't really done the math on the 12 Days of Christmas, and it kind of freaks me out. continue reading ...

"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - 5 gold rings ... "

We now come to the 5th day of Christmas, and the tone changes, dramatically. Why? Five gold rings receive a tempo change and greater emphasis, not just this day, but every day after. Have you noticed this before? continue reading ...

"On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - 4 colly birds ... "

Most of us recall this is "calling birds" - but the historians are saying it should be "colly birds", for "coal", as in "black as coal". That's mostly of interest to the linguists and doesn't appear to be significant in any other way. continue reading ...