Book of Days

There is something about reaching September –– and I think it is the “ember” at the end of the word, the first of a series of embers to come (save for October, whose ending still is awfully close to “ember”) –– that gives us pause. It is the understanding that summer is coming to a close, and autumn will soon usher us into winter. September is a gateway, a portal: its ember a reminder of the embers we will soon watch as we take our seat beside the warming hearth. Even to speak the names of these coming months: September, October, November, December… is to conjure a space so vastly different from that which came with the shorter names of the months before: May, June, July, August. September brings gravity, as we begin to gather in: gathering the harvest, gathering in our homes, gathering what will take us through the coming months of long nights and short days. These are my favorite days each year, perhaps because home means so much to me.

Your Convivio Book of Days Calendar for September this year focuses on and celebrates this gathering. Cover star: a circa 1900 painting by Adrien Moreau called “The Grape Harvest.” After Labor Day on Monday, our next holiday on the calendar comes on the 8th of September: It’s the Nativity of Mary. Mary, who is known by many names, is known by vintners at this time of year as Our Lady of the Grape Harvest, and while the Church early on assigned the Nativity of Jesus to the Midwinter Solstice and the Nativity of John the Baptist to the Summer Solstice, to the Autumnal Equinox it assigned the Nativity of Mary. In Italy, despite all the wine made there, it is a day for blueberries, the traditional color of Mary’s cloak. But across France today, look up at most any statue of the Blessed Mother, and you are bound to find a bunch of freshly-harvested grapes placed in her hands. Across the Alps, in Austria and in Switzerland, it is time to bring the sheep and cattle down from the mountains and into the valleys: winter is fast approaching, and the Nativity of Mary on the 8th of September is known there as “Drive Down Day” in honor of this custom of moving the animals out of the mountains and back to the valleys, usually with some pomp and ceremony, the cows decorated with flowers and bells.

Click here for the calendar, which, as always, is a printable PDF, and a fine companion to this blog. Meanwhile, let me tell you about a few local markets where you’ll find us in the coming months: all kinds of events, actually, but I want you to know about Oktoberfest, Krampusnacht, and the Christkindlmarkt at the American German Club: tickets for these wonderful events are only available before the actual events, and they tend to sell out well in advance of each. I’d suggest buying your tickets early.

OKTOBERFEST at the American German Club, 5111 Lantana Road, Lake Worth FL 33463. Friday, Saturday, & Sunday October 7 through 9, then again the following Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, October 14 through 16. Then in December it’s KRAMPUSNACHT on Friday December 9, followed by the CHRISTKINDLMARKT, a traditional European Christmas market, on Saturday & Sunday, December 10 & 11. Click here for tickets and more info for all of these events.

You’ll also find us, in these coming “ember months,” at Dia de Los Muertos Lake Worth on Saturday November 5, as well as at Florida Day of the Dead in Fort Lauderdale the same night, and at the Swedish Julmarknad & Sankta Lucia Festival on Saturday November 19 at First United Methodist Church of Boca Raton. Perhaps more dates to come for some smaller events, but these are the ones we know about now. I’ll keep you posted with full details on each as they get closer, but don’t forget the events at the American German Club require advance tickets.

Image: “The Grape Harvest” by Adrien Moreau. Oil on canvas, circa 1900 [Public domain via Wikimedia Commons].