On the way to Christmas, we came across a large Scots pine at the edge of a wood with only its needles and cones.
Luanne Austin
It was blue-green, or green-blue, depending on how your cones see it.
“One person’s turquoise in another person’s teal is another person’s aqua,” as Mom used to say.
The same is true for Christmas, I suppose. Even if we don’t take offense, we file complaints and take legal action against our neighbors for the way they interpret colors.
Today, for some, is just the day after Christmas, the day when many prepare holiday cheer and save it for another year. For me, as for many liturgical Christians, it is the second day of Christmas.
For others, it’s the second day of Hannukah, the first day of Kwanzaa, or Boxing Day and St. Stephen’s Day in other places around the world.
Living and going to school in Patchogue, New York, I loved hearing about the religious practices of my Jewish friends. For example, during Hannukah, the Jewish festival of lights, Susan Dranitzke told me that her parents lit the menorah candles each evening, played games, told stories, and gave her a gift.
Although my family had its own rituals around Christmas, I envied its celebration of Hannakuh. Eight nights receiving gifts!
Susan and several others – Debbie Lenowitz and Susan Rosenberg – shared their special dishes with me. I particularly remember the matzoh ball soup and coconut macaroons.
By Long Island standards, their synagogue was typical, with a Hebrew school that the children attended on Saturdays, which was their Sabbath. I would cycle past there on my way to the library, my own sort of ritual.
In December, to my knowledge, no one filed a complaint against public displays of nativity scenes or menorahs. There is no mention of the word “diversity”. It was just taken for granted.
My family celebrated a secular Christmas with Santa, presents, and gatherings. Although I occasionally went to church with a Catholic friend or cousin during this time, I had no idea what was going on. It was all somewhat mysterious.
These days, we tend to “embrace diversity” as a cognitive exercise. For me – growing up among people of Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, African, Polish, German, etc. descent. – the term “embracing diversity” is abstract.
My Puerto Rican friends, while they were Christians, had a different way of celebrating at Christmas: loud “foreign” music, wild dancing, bright colors beyond red and green, and spicy foods.
For Christmas dinner, my Italian neighbors ate a traditional ham with all the trimmings, accompanied by lasagna, antipasto and all kinds of European pastries.
I’ve been known to make lasagna for Christmas dinner myself.
As my daughter has lived in the UK for over 10 years, we have added Boxing Day to our family celebration. Most days we get together with visiting family to eat, play games and watch English football. Today my brother and his wife, who live in North Carolina, are coming over for dinner.
In the UK, Boxing Day is another day off with its own traditions, such as giving gifts to service workers, watching sports like football, cricket or horse racing, or going to the sales.
The entire Christmas period – from Christmas Day to Epiphany on January 6 – is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s nice that we all celebrate the season for different reasons in our “melting pot” of countries.
Despite its non-native status, it is pleasant to see the Scots pine on the edge of the woods. It is distinct, but not entirely different from our Virginia pines.
And since it’s non-invasive, it’s welcome.