Christmases Past by Sheila Claydon

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Everyone is writing about Christmas so I will too but not about this one. Instead I'm remembering Christmases past.

There was the one in Denmark where we drank Julebryg, a special Christmas beer for the festive season. It is released at exactly 8.59 pm on the first Friday of November by the 140 Tuborg Brewery and it fuels most holiday festivities for the next six weeks. And then it's gone. It's a strong, dark pilsner (5.6 percent alcohol by volume which takes the unwary foreigner by surprise)  and J-Day, as it is known, is far and away the biggest day of the year for Tuborg. Danes  pack the bars and spill into the streets where they  sing and dance and wear silly hats provided free by the brewery, all for the chance to get a first taste and welcome the start of the festive season by raising their glasses with a hearty 'Skål!'

And Skål was indeed our most used word that Christmas. Although our hosts were family friends, not all of them spoke much English, so because our Danish is very limited, everyone shouted Skål and  raised a glass whenever they ran out of words. It wasn't just beer either. There was plenty of wine later in the day,  and schnapps was always available, even at breakfast, because this was a farming family, used to coming in cold from tending the animals and drinking a warming shot of schnapps while they refuelled. The breakfast food was very different from what we were used to, too.  Curried herrings  on  dark rye bread, or thick slices of sausage and meatballs, all served as a smørrebrød (open sandwich). Then there was Christmas lunch. This was goose with creamed cabbage and potatoes followed by  risalamande, which is a rice pudding with vanilla, almonds and whipped cream served with warm cherry sauce. The risalamande contained a lucky silver charm so we all had to be very careful about what we swallowed and bit into until someone found it. Gifts were exchanged on Christmas Eve, just before a midnight service at the local Lutheran church where the priest, in his starched white ruff and 3-peaked hat was just a little scary, although not as scary as the real candles that burned all night on the real Christmas tree in a farmhouse with a thatched straw roof. I don't think my husband, who is a health and safety expert, slept a wink. It was, however, a wonderful Christmas.

Then there were the two we spent in Australia, where, after a token Christmas lunch at the request of our son who misses his English Christmases, it was beach trips and B-B-Q's all the way with huge, succulent prawns, whole salmon and thick wagu steak, washed down with some of the fine wines from Australia's famous Hunter Valley and of course the inevitable stubbie (bottle of beer) or tinny (can of beer). Australians are amongst the friendliest people in the world when they've had a drink or two so there were many parties as well, but whenever glasses were raised it was still with  a very English 'Cheers' despite the many language differences between our nations. The difference is that Australians also use 'Cheers' for a great many other things, often with the word mate added. It's used as a 'thank you', or a 'well done' or maybe just 'I heard you' or 'I agree with you'.  Of course after a week of sun, sea and surf and a lot of celebrating the climax to an Australian Christmas is always the firework display on Sydney Harbour Bridge, and we are lucky enough to have friends who live directly opposite...so what's not to like.

Our strangest Christmas by far was in China though. In a country where the 4000 year old tradition of the Chinese New Year (otherwise known as the Spring Festival) is by far the most important calendar event, as well as being the longest holiday of the year, Christmas is nevertheless celebrated by its more cosmopolitan inhabitants. While it is not a religious festival nor a public holiday many Chinese  still consider it a time for celebration when, particularly the younger generation, shop, party and feast. In the cities many of the shops are decorated and there are Christmas grottos where Shen Dan Lao Ren (Santa Claus) greets the children and hands out gifts. The food is very different of course and rarely served at home. Instead, most Chinese people who celebrate Christmas see it as a happy occasion for get-togethers of friends and relatives. Christmas parties might be  at a friend's house, but equally they might be at a McDonald's, a karaoke cafe, a restaurant, or a bar. There is a festive atmosphere, and people enjoy the decorations and the Christmas music. Having said that, with a son who craves a traditional Christmas meal if at all possible, I did receive my biggest challenge in China as you can see from the photo below! I got there though despite being used to a ready prepared turkey, and we then ate out for the rest of the holiday. These celebratory meals took place mostly at huge round tables where we were surrounded by smiling Chinese friends whose own version of Cheers is 干杯 Gānbēi, a word they used a great deal as wine and spirits flowed copiously, and we ate an amazing variety of food, none of which we could name as our Mandarin is next to non existent so we had to rely on our Chinese host to order for us.

So thanks to a globe trotting son, my husband and I can celebrate Christmas in several languages even if our only skill is to say the equivalent of Cheers as we raise a festive glass.

Season of Story and Song

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In December, many cultures celebrate the return of the light in the midst of darkness.  Part of this celebration comes in storytelling and song, For many Native American and First People’s cultures winter was the time for story, and we all know a good story, don’t we?  When the missionaries came to the Huron/Wendat people, they brought the Christmas story, translated into the language and cultural traditions of the people.  And so, to this day, we have the haunting and lovely Huron Carol. This year I look forward to singing it to my new grandchild, quite the little light himself!

'Twas in the moon of wintertime

When all the birds had fled

That mighty Gitchi Manitou

Sent angel choirs instead

Before their light the stars grew dim

And wandering hunters heard the hymn…

Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born

Jesus ahathonhia!

Within a lodge of broken bark

The tender Babe was found

A ragged robe of rabbit skin

Enwrapp'd His beauty round

And as the hunter braves drew nigh

The angel song rang loud and high…

The earliest moon of wintertime

Is not so round and fair

As was the ring of glory

On the helpless infant there

The chiefs from far before him knelt

With gifts of fur and beaver pelt…

O children of the forest free,

Sons, daughters of Manitou,

The Holy Child of earth and heaven

Is born today for you.

Come kneel before the radiant Boy

Who brings you beauty, peace and joy…

A Jane Austen Christmas

                             

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On a recent trip to Ottawa, Ontario, I went to a play. Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, a new work produced by Ottawa Little Theatre. Fans of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, will instantly recognize the cues in the play's title. Pride and Prejudice is the story of the five Bennet sisters, living in early 19th century England, in search of husbands for fulfillment and financial survival. The novel's hero, Mr. Darcy, owned Pemberley, a great estate.

'Pemberley' in one of the numerous Pride and Prejudice screen adaptations

Christmas at Pemberley takes place two years after Pride and Prejudice. The play opens with Elizabeth Darcy nee Bennet admiring her newfangled holiday decoration, a Christmas tree. Mr. Darcy is appalled by the outdoor tree in his living room. Elizabeth's challenge to his conventionality is true to her character developed in Pride and Prejudice, but I find this domestic conflict lacks the zing of their verbal sparring in the novel. The problem with all Austen novel sequels is that once the lovers resolve their all their problems they become boring. That's why Jane Austen ended their stories at this point. But readers like me keep wanting more of the Bennets and Darcys.

The Christmas tree tradition came to Britain with King George III's German-born wife, Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz 

The heroine of Christmas at Pemberley is the overlooked middle Bennet sister, Mary. In the novel, Austen portrays Mary as drearily bookish, Mary also seeks attention by forcing her mediocre piano playing on hapless attendees at neighbourhood parties. The authors of the new play rightly realized that Mary's love of reading and music has a positive side. She wants more from life than her sisters. When the family gathers at Pemberley this Christmas, Mary meets her soul mate, Darcy's equally bookish cousin. It doesn't hurt that the cousin is handsome and rich.

But romantic complications and misunderstandings ensue. Most of them are initiated by Lydia, the selfish youngest Bennet sister who'd foolishly eloped with the scoundrel Wickham. Their hasty marriage has fallen apart and Lydia wants the rich cousin for herself.

I won't give away the rest of the plot, except to say that when Jane, the perpetually sunny oldest Bennet sister sympathizes with Lydia and treats her with kindness, Lydia changes. For me, this was the most surprising character development in the play. Who knew Lydia had it in her?

The five Bennet sisters

In the play, I also liked the guy friendship between Darcy and Jane's sunny husband, Bingley. After the men discuss the problems between Mary and the cousin, they agree they must do something to help. Darcy and Bingley jump to their feet and say, "Let's go to the sisters," instantly recognizing that relationship repair isn't guy territory.

Colin Firth, my favourite screen Darcy, with his friend Bingley

Calgary Playwright Eugene Stickland has said that writing a Christmas play is a practical move for writers because theatre companies across the country look for ones to produce every year. A good play for the season results in repeated royalties for the author.

This has got me thinking about Kitty, Bennet sister # 4 and the most overlooked sister of all. Austen portrays her in the novel as no more than Lydia's sidekick, lacking the pizazz of her younger sister. Kitty is absent from the Pemberley play's Christmas shenanigans, merely referred to as spending the holidays in London. This makes Kitty almost a blank slate for a modern writer. If Lydia can change, why not Kitty?

My Austen-inspired play would focus on Kitty emerging from the shadows of her colourful sisters and growing into her own person. Set at Christmastime, somewhere in Austen-land. Kitty will need a suitor who's right for her, perhaps a man who has also been overlooked. Plenty of complications and misunderstandings along the way will lead them to true romance. A winning Jane Austen Christmas.

   

Catalogs, Junk Mail, Solicitations & Pain at Christmas by Karla Stover

   

               
Historical mystery                Murder in Tacoma, WA.    Murder on Hood Canal


     The day before Thanksgiving, my husband and I went to put flowers on my parents' grave sites. When we returned home, Mom had a solicitation from the insurance company, Kaiser Permanente, and together they had a request for money. The week before, three Dr. Leonard catalogs arrived. Those are regularly followed by Blair, Haband, the Salvation Army, Disabled Veterans, Indian tribes, and I can't, right now, think of who all else.

     Being an orphan is horrible, at the best of times, but the constant reminders coming through the mail make it even worse. And everything sent to my parents is passed on to me because I was the executor and have a forwarding address at the post office.

    When they first passed away, I tried sending notes back to the various solicitors letting them know about their deaths. Fat lot of good that did! And, of course, their names have been sold. Today, the Emerald Queen (EQC) Hotel & Casino sent a fold-out flier of coming events. My folks never went to the EQC, let alone used any sort of identification there.

It hurts to have this come, to be constantly reminded that I will never see my folks again. I wish I knew how to make it all stop.
   

Holiday Traditions

I come from a family with three sisters and a brother which made the Christmas holidays fun because there were a lot of presents under the tree! For the first seventeen years of my life, Dad was in the Air Force and that meant moving every few years, but regardless of whether we lived in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia or Texas; Japan or Kwajalein, our Christmas traditions arrived right along with the Mayflower Moving Van.

We always got a Life Saver^© story book; we hung stockings on a pretend fireplace. We girls dressed alike in outfits Mom had made for midnight church service on Christmas Eve.  And we would always peek under Mom’s bed because that’s where she always hid the Christmas presents. (My own children were well into college before I quit giving them Life Saver^© storybooks.)

One of my holiday traditions was writing Christmas stories for my family and friends. Over the years there were stories about Christmases in the past, Christmas ghosts, holiday memories and even lumberjacks who helped Santa. One of these stories, "Once upon a Christmas Wish" was about a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania called Snow. Even in the midst of the coal mine shutting down, the children of the town decided to celebrate the holiday with a snow sculpture festival. This story so captured me that I decided to write a mainstream novel based in Snow. Again, the snow festival was such a huge part of the story that I even invented a fictitious website all about the town and its many businesses. 

That story is "Always Believe". It’s a story about family and friendships and maybe even a miracle or two. Emma doesn't believe in the enchantment of Christmas, but then she and her dad move to Snow, where even the stores have holiday names. What is she supposed to think when her new friend, Charlie, pulls her into the magic of the holiday by insisting he knows the location of Santa's workshop?

Letters to Santa tend to be another tradition of the holiday. But what happens when a typographical error causes hundreds of letters to Santa to end up at a Chicago Cosmetic Company? Because of an error in ad copy, CEO Chantilly Morrison is inundated with letters from children, whose scribbled wishes tug at her heart. She hires an investigator to find the letter writers so she can throw a huge Christmas party and make the children's fantasies come true. AJ Anderson can find the unfindable, whether it's lost artifacts or people and he's very good at his job. But when Chanti dumps hundreds of letters in his lap with the directive to find the children -- before Christmas Eve -- he knows the request is impossible, but the woman is irresistible. Should he use his skills to make her Christmas wish come true, or can he use the countdown to Christmas to find the key that unlocks the lady's heart?

I wish you all the best of the holidays, in whatever way you celebrate and with whatever traditions you hold dear. If one of your traditions just happens to be reading a fun holiday story, I invite you to grab a copy of “Always Believe” or “If Wishes Were Magic”, both available from http://bookswelove.net/authors/baldwin-barbara-romance/

Barbara Baldwin

http://www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin

Advent calendars by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

I would be lying if I said I wasn't counting the days before Christmas, mainly because I take care of my five-year-old granddaughter every morning, and the first thing we do while we're eating breakfast together is to check the date and month on the calendar. Now that we're in December, we also count the days before Christmas Eve and then she opens her two Advent calendars.

I debated which Advent calendar to buy her before I settled on the chocolate and the Lego calendars. There are so many different ones on the market, but like many Christmas traditions, where or when did this one start?

Advent calendars originated in the 1800s in the German-speaking world when parents began to think up different ways to illustrate the remaining time until Advent for their children in order to highlight the special, holiday atmosphere of the season.


Some parents added a new picture with Christmas themes to their wall or windows each day leading up to Christmas Eve or Day. Other made 24 lines with chalk on cabinet doors or door frames, then allowed the children to wipe away one stroke each day.

In Austria, they made “heaven ladders” on which one progressed down the ladder rung by rung each day, illustrating the concept of God coming down to Earth. And in Scandinavia, a candle was divided into 24 segments and a segment was burned every day until Christmas.

In the late 1800s, they started making “Christmas clocks”. The face of the clock was divided into 24 segments (some adorned with song texts or Bible verses) and the hands moved one step further each day.

Then in 1908, inspired by his childhood memories,  Gerhard Lang (1881-1974) commercialized the first print Advent calendar. As a child he'd received 24 cookies sewn onto the lid of a box by his mother and he was allowed to eat one of them every day during the Advent period.

Lang's calendar didn’t have any little doors  to open...yet. It was composed of two printed parts: one page contained 24 pictures to cut out, and a cardboard page on which there were 24 boxes, each with a poem composed by Lang. The children could cut out one picture each day, read a verse and glue the picture on it. On December 24th the Christ child, dressed in white, was glued in place.

In 1920, the first Advent calendar with little doors or windows to open appeared, and around 1926, Lang created the "Christmas Rose", the first Advent calendar with 20 pieces of chocolate from the Stollwerck company.

Over the decades, the calendars evolved in shapes and content, from chocolate, to cheese, to toys, to wine tree, and everything in between, but one thing hasn't changed. It still counts the days until Christmas, building up the excitement in both children and adults.

Only 17 days until Christmas...

Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season!

JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

The NaNoWriMo Experience by Eileen O'Finlan

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For the past few years I've been reading about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in the writing magazines to which I subscribe. It sounded interesting, but I had yet to give it a try. The goal is to write 50,000 words in thirty days starting on November 1st.

I've been working on Erin's Children, the sequel to Kelegeen for some time. As with any historical novel, there is a ton of research to do before the writing can begin, continuing right up through the final draft. That eats up a lot of time, but it's necessary for an historically accurate story. Once I had enough research under my belt to begin writing, I realized that between a full-time job, caring for my mom who turned 93 in October, and various other obligations, I was having trouble finding time to write. So as November was approaching, I remembered that November is National Novel Writing Month and jumped on the NaNoWriMo bandwagon in hopes it would help me kick my writing into high gear.

As of the writing of this post (it's 11:43 p.m. on November 30th) I have logged in at 50,039 words. I did it with just over two hours to spare. The first draft of the novel is still incomplete, but I certainly got a gigantic chunk of it written. Besides hitting the 50,000 word goal, I was determined to write every day of November. It took a lot of discipline and a bit of sacrifice (mostly in the area of sleep), but I did it. Thirty consecutive days of writing. Granted some days saw a lot more words hit the screen than others. I only wrote one paragraph on Thanksgiving morning before taking off for my cousin's house in Connecticut, but I did it just to keep my writing streak alive. 

One huge benefit of NaNoWriMo is that it fostered a disciplined writing regimen that should help me complete my novel within an acceptable time frame.

So, how do I feel having completed my first NaNoWriMo and met the 50,000 words in 30 days goal? Thrilled, self-confident, energized, more in love with writing than ever, and very, very sleep deprived!