"December has become almost synonymous with 'wonder and joy'. It is the one month where everyone seems to get along with almost everyone else. Why is that? Part of the magic of December. A magical, yet misnamed month."
Welcome December! The one month of the year, when wonderment and awe invades most all youngins. Well, it also invades some of us who are not so young anymore. It is the one month of the winter, we would love to savor each and every moment. But - as most of us know - this month tends to travel faster than the speed of light. We all start out on December 1st (like today), and before we know it, we are putting away our Christmas decorations, and getting ready to break our newly minted New Year's resolutions.
But enough about the speed, and more about the savor. In our household, December starts off with a bang. Most of the decorating is done, and I am once again allowed to play Christmas music all the time. The kitchen is a very busy place, with all kinds of good holiday treats being prepared. My wife's birthday is right away, closely followed by my birthday (and St. Nicholas also!), and then my son-in-law's birthday. After that first week filled with birthday bliss, it is time to get serious about the birthday which is the reason for the season. The countdown to Christmas Eve has begun!
But wait a minute. I understand the derivation of names for some of our months. But December? That name is used on both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. But what does it mean? It is not named after a Caesar, or anything like that!
The month of December made a lot of sense when the calendar only had 10 months. Being the last month, it was like "Dec" = 10. But then when the calendar went to 12 months, December became somewhat of an oddity. But so what? It is ours, and we are keeping it.
December has become almost synonymous with "wonder and joy". It is the one month where everyone seems to get along with almost everyone else. Why is that? Part of the magic of December. A magical, yet misnamed month.
Before long, as we venture through and explore this wonderful month, it will be the night before Christmas. I am reminded of that wonderful and famous poem as it starts out:
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
not a creature will be stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there...
For some reason the Romans originally wrote deep winter out of their calendar. At least J. Caesar fixed that.
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