My Christmas Wish For You

There are several major holidays observed around the world as the year draws to a close, with Christmas and Hanukkah leading the pack in the Western world - but there are many, many other holidays and festivals that have significant meaning to people around the globe.

Most Muslims observed Eid-al-Adha near the end of November, many of African descent will begin the days of Kwanzaa on the 26th of this month, and the Japanese will soon begin preparations for their New Year, known there as Omisoka (not to mention the Lunar New Year in late January or early February, celebrated by my Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean friends) .

In addition to these there are holidays best known to those who either live in or hail from a certain area, such as St Nicholas Day (in Northern Europe), or Las Posadas (throughout Mexico) or even Hogmanay - a Scottish New Year celebration.

I've shared in past posts that I don't affiliate myself with any organized religion but I do consider myself a spiritual being, and some parts of the December holidays have the pleasant side effect of re-charging my emotional and mental batteries: such as the feeling of well-being many of us get from being with friends and family, the opportunity to do for others more than usual and the comfort of familiar decorations, music, dishes and treats - to name a few.

I was raised with Christmas, and again this year my home will be the gathering place for 20+ people to celebrate it. That means tomorrow my usual "solo" days will end for four or five days, and that's going to eliminate the time necessary to put together and write posts. So, I'm going to put the blog on a mini-vacation and wish you all the best of whatever holiday you observe. If all goes well, I'll be back with new posts by the 28th.

As my Christmas e-card I'll leave you today with the video up top that I created to share what I've considered for years to be the most beautiful and serene recording ever made of "Silent Night", although since my niece and nephew were singing with the group when this concert was recorded I'm a little partial. Leave the religious sentiment out of it if you wish (I do) and it's still a gorgeous rendition.

Happy holidays, all! See you in a few days.