We kicked off our Twelfth Night celebration last night by having pancakes and eggnog for supper. Then we played Bananagrams until about an hour past our usual bedtime, read aloud Chapter 5 of On the Blue Comet (a Christmas gift) and finally turned in.
The festivities continued this morning with the entire household sleeping late. Even the cat refrained from walking on our heads until almost 8:00. Unheard of! Everyone had surfaced by 10:00, at which point we agreed to watch the extended edition of The Two Towers. Breakfast was chocolate- and caramel-covered Boy Scout popcorn and soda. (In our defense, the caramel popcorn did have fancy nuts in it.)
Between discs (yes, this four-hour epic requires more than one DVD) we made pizza – Pillsbury’s whole-wheat pizza dough is a nice alternative to frozen pies. We rounded out our Tolkien overdose with more soda for the kids and hops-based beverages for the adults. It was 4:00 by the time the credits rolled, and we all needed showers.
Some shoe shopping, some ice skating, then supper at Culver’s. Now we’ve settled in at home again to watch the Vikings and the Pack face off at Lambeau Field. Tomorrow we’ll remove the decorations and put the tree on the deck to provide shelter for birds coming to the feeder, but for one more night it graces our living room with twinkling lights and the delicate scent of fir.
Some star ornaments will linger about the house through Epiphany, reminders of the star that beckoned to wise men of old, the morning star that shines for the peoples of the nations, and the people themselves, more numerous than the stars.
Even twelve drummers drumming is not loud enough to drown out the wonder and mystery of the silent night that began this season.
The Daily Compost 