Dear Writers,

Today is Letter Writing Day! In a world where communication is dominated by phone conversations, electronic messages, and social media posts, receiving an actual, handwritten letter sent through the United States Postal Service means more than ever! Nowadays, the key into people’s hearts…would seem to be through their mailbox.

Whether you write to a pen-pal, an old friend, a nice relative, or some jolly, ol’ elf in the North Pole, there’s no better day than today to put your pen to paper, stamp that envelope, and reach out to someone through your own written words.

It’s fun, exchanging little slices of our lives this way. Unlike social media sites and text messages, a letter gives you an amount of space that allows you more freedom in your writing since you don’t have to choose your words as wisely as you would in, say, a text message or a Tweet. Writing a letter gives you the space to open up and really share your thoughts with someone.

It’s extremely easy. Here’s what you’ll need:
•    Loose leaf paper or whatever paper you have around (preferably not napkins)
•    Pen or pencil—your choice, but keep in mind that pen will not fade, nor will it erase
•    Envelopes
•    Stamps
•    The address of the person you’re mailing

Families tend to stick together this time of year, but, Parents, should your kids be away visiting relatives—PERFECT! Write to them! Just the same as spending time away from home is good practice for every camper’s summer camp stay, writing letters is good practice as well since that will certainly be your main (and likely only) form of communication during their camp stays to come.

Go ahead, folks. Write those people who mean the most to you and tell them how important they are to you. It’s much easier to say in written words what you may never say out loud. So write those words down today and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Holidayers!

We’ve spent the last three days looking at the three most popular December holidays that are celebrated in the United States. I told you about the distinct histories of Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. For my closing installment of this series on December holidays in the United States, I’d like to talk about the many other holidays observed this month.

Muslims celebrate Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic calendar. This is when the prophet Muhammad heard the first verses of the Qur’an from Allah. Muslims observe Ramadan by fasting from dawn to sunset. The fasting is intended to instill strength, patience, and goodwill throughout this holy month. Ramadan will often times fall in December, however, since it is based on the Islamic calendar, the dates can vary. It was celebrated in JUNE and JULY this year!

The Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Mexican holiday dating back to the morning of December 9, 1531, when a ghostly girl on top of the Tepeyac Hill instructed one Juan Diego to build a church there in her honor. As a miraculous sign to prove her identity as the Virgin Mary, the apparition had Juan Diego pick Castillian Roses (a foreign flower to Mexico that inexplicably bloomed on the hilltop in mid-December). The lady rolled the flowers in a fabric. On December 12, when Juan Diego, showed the roses to the Bishop, the image of the Lady of Guadalupe was there on the fabric!

The Japanese celebrate New Year’s on the same date as us, but they don’t call it New Year’s. Instead, they call it Shōgatsu. And before Shōgatsu, they celebrate Ōmisoka (better known to English-speakers as New Year’s Eve). Shōgatsu is the most important day of the year for the Japanese which makes Ōmisoka the second-most important. They observe it by eating a bowl of long noodles called Toshikoshi, which translates to “crossing over from one year to the next.” The Japanese will also traditionally make a midnight visit to local temples or shrines to be there when the new year arrives.

There are other holidays in December that you might celebrate. If I missed your holiday, I’m sorry. There are so many of them! Whether you celebrate one of the three I mentioned on today’s post, the one’s I discussed previously this week, or one that I missed like St. Lucia’s Day, St. Nicholas Day, Three King’s Day, or Boxing Day, the important thing is that they all seem to share a theme of togetherness and warmth throughout the darkest and coldest time of year. Happy holidays, Everyone, and thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Holidayers!

Or should I say Habari Gani? We’re taking a look at December holidays this week. A couple days ago we discussed the history of Hanukkah and yesterday I revealed the reasons behind some of people’s oldest and most popular Christmas traditions.

Today: 

First of all, Habari Gani, as I alluded to above, is the way to greet people throughout the weeklong Kwanzaa celebration. This festive phrase is Swahili for “What’s the news?” Why do you greet one another in Swahili during Kwanzaa? Because Kwanzaa is all about expressing yourself through your African heritage and learning about where you come from.

The celebration of this holiday isn’t quite so old, but the cultural values that it honors are among the oldest in the world. It was celebrated for the first time in the December of 1966 (and the first day into the new year). This holiday was created by a man named Maulana Karenga. His idea behind Kwanzaa was to “give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.”

Kwanzaa spans from December 26 and lasts until January 1. But just because this holiday overlaps with Christmas and New Year’s doesn’t mean missing out on those holidays. Many households incorporate Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day celebrations into their Kwanzaa festivities. After all, gift-giving, feasting, singing, and further merrymaking are already what Kwanzaa’s all about.

Those who have a combined celebration of these holidays will typically find a way to involve an ethnic element in their Christmas and New Year’s observance. In fact, one will often find the kinara, the candleholder in Kwanzaa celebrations, sitting in the same area as the Christmas tree.

Kwanzaa  may have started out small, but it’s really started to catch on in more recent years. In 2004, it was estimated that 4.7 million people planned on celebrating Kwanzaa in the United States. It is claimed, however, that this holiday is recognized all around the world. Though not in an official capacity, Kwanzaa is supposedly recognized in countries like France, Great Britain, Jamaica, Brazil, and others. An estimation of worldwide Kwanzaa celebrators is thought to be around 30 million!

Embrace the Kwanzaa celebration and you’re sure to proudly stay connected to your heritage. Enjoy your families’ holiday festivities this year and thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Holidayers!

Yesterday I talked about Hanukkah, the first of the chief, three December holidays that are celebrated in the United States. While Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa are as wildly popular as they are, it’s surprising how little we actually know about them. Tune in each day this week to learn about the history of December holidays we celebrate in the United States.

Next up is Christmas.

Christmas, of course, is the Christian celebration that annually commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25. Many of its traditions, however, have been adopted from a varied past. When you stop and think about it, what do our traditions have to do with the birth of Jesus? We bring trees into our homes, give gifts to one another, and kiss beneath the mistletoe—WHY? Let’s take a look.

Christmas trees (while they may be different now) are nothing new. People have been putting trees in their homes for thousands of years in recognition of the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. Without modern science to explain this phenomenon, people feared that the sun would grow farther and farther away until it disappeared completely, forever! Evergreens and palm trees, which never lose their healthy, green color, were kept inside homes almost as good luck charms.

Giving gifts is just as old a tradition as Christmas trees are. During the Saturnalia celebration—a Thanksgiving-esque holiday from thousands of years ago—masters of the house would give gifts to their servants and children and they would play silly role reversal games with them to help make the day feel joyful and light.

As for mistletoe—well, that’s been a traditional item for a long time too, maybe even longer than gift giving or keeping trees inside. It was the ancient Greeks who started smooching underneath this parasitic plant. In those times, mistletoe was associated with fertility. Even earlier than that, though, the Celtics used mistletoe in ceremonies. They didn’t kiss under it. They just thought it had strange abilities like healing illnesses, protecting against nightmares, and…predicting the future.

But no matter where these traditions came from, the important thing is that we keep the traditions alive in our celebrations today. Enjoy your festivities and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Holidayers!

There are a lot of days to celebrate in December. There are so many, in fact, you may not be aware of them all. And as for the ones that you do know, you might be surprised to discover how little you actually know about it. That’s why I’d like to take a look into the history of our December holidays as well as the origins behind our celebratory traditions. Tune in each day this week to learn about the December holidays we celebrate in the United States.

I’ll start with the first to arrive of the chief three: Hanukkah.

Starting at sunset on December 16 this year, the first night of Hanukkah begins! Eight days and nights follow to observe this traditional Hebrew holiday until nightfall on December 24. So what exactly is this celebration about? Let’s take a deeper look.

First of all, Hanukkah goes off of a lunisolar calendar which is based on the sun and the moon while the traditional Gregorian calendar only considers the sun and the time it takes the earth to move around it. While the date may jump around from year to year on the Gregorian calendar, Hanukkah consistently begins on the 25 of Kislev, a month of the Hebrew calendar.

The history of Hanukkah goes back to 165 B.C. when a Jewish rebel army known as the Maccabees defeated the Syrians and rededicated their holy temple in Jerusalem. The eight days of Hanukkah are about a seven-day miracle in which the Maccabees only had enough oil to light the temple’s eternal flame for a single day, yet the lamp kept on burning for eight!

As for Hanukkah’s main tradition, the lighting of the nine-branched candleholder is often times incorrectly referred to as a menorah. Not everyone knows that this name is the wrong name for the traditional nine-branched candelabrum. It’s actually called a Hanukkiah. A menorah, on the other hand, has only seven candleholders—like the lamp that was used in the ancient holy temple in Jerusalem.

Hanukkiahs have nine candleholders so that there’s a candle for every night of Hanukkah and then one more to light the others. If you celebrate Hanukkah, you now can educate your friends and family on the holiday you’re about to celebrate! Happy Hanukkah.

Come back tomorrow to hear about the history of Christmas.

- John