Book of Days

And now it is December, last of the Ember Months. In the Northern Hemisphere it is the month of the Winter Solstice, Midwinter by traditional reckoning of time. At some point during the course of this season, I suspect I will find myself gathered into a dark church and if all goes well, one of the songs we will sing together, as a congregation, will be “In the Bleak Midwinter.” I love this song. Especially the first verse:

In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter
Long ago.

The words are based on a poem by Christina Rosetti and they are perfect as they are. And while all this cold hardness may be happening outside, inside it’s a different story. These are the days of our greatest annual celebrations. The harvest is in, the bounty is evident. The night is long and dark but the fire is warm and we are gathered together in that warmth of home. The celebrations we keep are ancient ones that go back farther than anyone can remember, but we keep them well, remembering those who kept them before us and hoping those who follow will take them up, as well, and pass them along to those who follow them. Dickens’ Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future visit each of us in their way.

The monthly Convivio Book of Days calendar is a printable PDF document, and if you do choose to print it and pin it to your bulletin board, this month you get to spend time with some good folks I know. The cover stars on your December Book of Days calendar are my mom, Millie (she makes Millie’s Potholders in our catalog) and my cousin Larry, standing at Aunt Mary’s and Uncle Phil’s Christmas tree, 1952. That would have been in Brooklyn, New York, and it’s a safe bet that there was good food on the table that night, things we make only once a year, at Christmastime. The same good things we make now; the same good things those who came before were making, too. This is one of the best things about this time of year: the bleak midwinter brings out the best in us.