One of our family oddnesses is that we don’t usually open the Christmas cards we receive when the arrive. Instead of tearing them open and rushing through them in the mad holiday rush, we put them aside.
On Twelfth Night, the last night we keep the tree lit, we sit down in the livingrom, pour an eggnog, and read though the holiday messages. Yeah, sure, we’ve missed an invitation a Christmas party here and there (so we’ve started to sneak peaks at invitation-looking envelopes). But, it’s a treat to be able to relaxedly read and enjoy the cards. It lets us eek out another moment of Christmas.
Tomorrow, Twelfth Night, is a squaredancing class, so we honored our tradition tonight.
Thank you to all the senders of cards, writers of messages, and authors of Christmas letters! (This year we didn’t send out cards as our minds were still selfishly focused on our wedding, Prop 8, and marriage! But, we will return to the card sending ourselves in 2009.)
One great surprise was a large envelope with a card and this:
It’s a 1944 book on squaredancing and folk dancing. 25-cents at a garage sale, according the cousins who sent it. Original price was 75-cents.
Maybe we can try out the singing call for “Oh! Susanna” or “Hinky-Dinky, Parlee-Voo” ?
That’s a treasure! Congrats!
I like that idea of sitting back AFTER the 25th and reading through the cards. We’ve always been the kind that hits the mailbox, finds the cards, rips them open, glances through them and puts them up on a string to admire. Hmmm.