Manitoba and southwest North Dakota have quite a few Ukrainian communities. We have several Ukrainian friends on both sides of the border. Some are members of the Ukrainian Orthdox Church, some the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Both denominations have married priests. I don’t quite understand that.
Both denominations also seem to celebrate Christmas on January 6th instead of December 25th. I personally don’t know if I could stand waiting until January 6th for Christmas to be over. I read with interest the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Ukraine militantly moved Christmas celebrations to December 25th this year in a punch in the eye to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Husband was doing some idle research and found that in Scotland, Ireland, and in Amish communities in the States, January 6th is called Little Christmas, and there are traditions of the men that day doing all the women’s work. How big of them! I certainly hope in those societies that Christmas isn’t just for women to arrange and orchestrate! It certainly isn’t in our house.
I regret that our basement is all in disarray and our TV and various media players are all packed up waiting for carpenters and carpet layers. One of my favorite recordings is the 1998 production of Twelfth Night from Live From Lincoln Center with Paul Rudd and Helen Hunt in the leads. Watching that is a nice way to end Christmas.
When is Christmas over for you? Any memories or good quotes from Twelfth Night, by The Bard?
Trail Baboon 
Christmas is more or less over on Dec. 26, but we keep decorations up and maybe play some Christmas music until New Year’s Day. The “Holidays” are over in our house on Jan. 2.
Chris in Owatonna
LikeLiked by 2 people
Husband and I finally opened our gift yesterday :), so I guess it’s over now. I leave up most of the decorations till New Years, and the light around the house will stay up till mid-January at least.
No experience with Twelfth Night, but that sounds like a fun production.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sandra grew up with two Christmases. Lutheran on 12/25 and Russian Orthodox on 1/6. She said her Russian grandmother tried to win her and her sister back to the Orthodox side with lavish gifts, which she and her delightful Russian aunt would then exchange. It seems to me that if you follow that calendar the date should have slowly crept even further behind.
She also had two Easter’s.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Should add we always left Decorations up until 1/6 in honor of her other heritage, which today she would not honor
LikeLiked by 2 people
Rise and Shine, Baboons,
As an oldster, Christmas is not my holiday (unlike Thanksgiving, which I appreciate) so it ended Monday. We celebrated last Friday with my son and wife, then saw the movie “Boys on the Boat” on the day of Christmas. I enjoyed that. So, for me, Christmas ended midnight 12/25. My wonderful daughter-in-law was born on Christmas so they go to her hometown of Milwaukee on Christmas to celebrate her birthday with her family.
OT Re: Russian Orthodox faith. My family has had a very negative experience with the evangelical wing of this faith after my very unstable nephew was recruited into it. He has been in and out of it over the last 25 years, a dynamic that has created strain and a lot of relationship disruption. Several years ago I set a big limit with my nephew regarding the end of my mother’s life and her memorial service and how his religion-based behavior might affect my mother. That was received with a thud, but it was so necessary.
Further, during this same period I saw a news article reporting that the FBI, CIA, and NSA are all watching the very sect of which my nephew is a member, because they are suspected of recruiting spies for Russia, having been infiltrated by Putin’s lackeys. Now my nephew would be the worst spy recruit ever. He can not stop talking. But who wants this kind of trouble? I still have not told his mother, my sister, but I stay away from the nephew these days.
I don’t really care what this faith sets as holidays or how they go about their rituals, but the entire experience has been negative and lingers on.
Only in my family.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Wow!
LikeLike
For me Christmas is over at midnight on the 25th. I usually take down the decorations on the 27th or 28th but with mobility issues this year, it will be a slower process. As I remove decorations, I do a pretty good cleaning and decluttering so the New Year starts out fresh. Again, this year it will be a much slower process.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve switched the music playlist on my phone, which is the basis for what plays on the car radio, from Christmas music to the ordinary playlist.
We still have one holiday event this weekend with the extended family and Robin’s mother, who is 102.
I expect our Christmas tree will be up until mid-January and some of the other lights will stay up longer. I will continue to light the exterior ones until February, at least and won’t actually take them down until some time later. In normal years there is too much snow to maneuver a ladder until early spring.
Postponing putting away the lights, both inside and out, has more with the darkness of the season than it does about Christmas. When it begins getting dusky at 4:00 PM and doesn’t get light until 7:00, I appreciate the extra warmth and color and am reluctant to let it go.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Yes, keep the lights for as long as possible.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi- I never had to read or study Shakespeare, and being in theater, that’s a bit of a problem. People talk about him and his shows like I should know. I fake it a lot.
Lighting Hamlet in March… I have a script… the director has edited it… yeah. I should read it.
There’s a TV series called ‘Slings and Arrows’, which, even me not knowing Shakespeare, is really funny. Probably better if you know him!
It’s free on YouTube it appears.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That looks like fun.
LikeLike
I am also keeping my window lights up until at least mid January for the same reason as Bill – too much darkness.
Besides, I can’t climb on a step stool or chair to reach the tops of the windows at this point.
LikeLiked by 2 people
MST3K Year’s End Marathon is on.
Giant Spider Invasion.
Wisconsin is under attack!
Packers! Woo-hoo!
LikeLiked by 5 people
Well, you guys know me. As long as anybody else wants to celebrate, I’ll celebrate. Having the annual holiday lunch with two friends of mine tomorrow up at Pub 42. We meet there every couple of months and we all have some version of the Reuben. So good there!
LikeLiked by 3 people
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Only line I can confidently remember from Twelfth Night!! I believe it was Orsinio.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I regard Christmas as more a season than a day. It’s supposed to go on for awhile.
There aren’t a lot of twelfth night songs, but here’s one:
LikeLiked by 3 people