December 1, 2014
The holiday season is upon us.
Christmas is evident in every town across the country, at every corner of your
hometown lights are twinkling in the night. Joyous celebrations are getting
ready to begin and we all give thanks for a wonderful year as the new one takes
onto new adventures in our lives. In
Shannon Springs Park, the sounds of Christmas are heard 24/7 during December and the Christmas lights are spectacular.
Merry
Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year, everyone!
In
this Issue:
Christmas Legends
News/Updates
Recipes
Coming next month
Christmas Legends:
The American version of the Santa
Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of
Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century.
As early as 1773 the name appeared
in the American press as "St. A Claus," but it was the popular author
Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the
Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809
under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the
saint on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas.
This Dutch-American Saint Nick
achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint
Nicholas more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas by writer Clement
Clarke Moore. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa
Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas,
referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney. (Moore's phrase "lays his
finger aside of his nose" was drawn directly from Irving's 1809
description.)
Santa Claus Legend:
Celebrating
Christmas without a richly decorated Christmas Tree
would not seem right today. But why do we have a Christmas Tree, and how
did it originate?
Back in
the 7th century a monk from Crediton, Devonshire, traveled to Germany to spread
the Word of God. Legend has it that he used the triangular shape of the
Fir Tree to describe the Holy Trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit to the German people. The German people started to revere the Fir Tree as
"God's Tree". In the next 5 centuries, the tree became a symbol of
Christianity, and was being hung upside-down from the ceiling as a sign of
Christianity.
Christmas Tree Legends:
Christmas Legends:
Christmas Movies:
Christmas Recipes/Treats:
.jpg)
News/Updates: Exclusive to select Maxine’s Musings members
(MMs) a release day (TBA) Kindle download of By the Blue
Moon, the first in a series of adult novels
inspired by the Beast of Bray Road in the Kettle Moraine Forest of Wisconsin.
One
father.
Two
mothers.
Four
siblings.
One
incredible story about that special night which changes them all.
Forever.
Congratulations to the MMs who received a release day copy of my 5 in 1 Romances to Remember bundle! I hope you enjoy the five stories in the bundle.
Coming Next Month: Two new features: Recommended
Read and Quote of the Month.
With
much
gratitude, until next time…keep reading.
Maxine
Spark
your imagination and entice your mind
Be
adventurous in your own home
Take
a journey into a new world and be inspired
Enjoy
the pleasures of reading ~~
It
does the mind and body good.
