One hundred and seventy years ago this Christmas, Sir Henry Cole commissioned John Calcott Horsley to paint a greeting card. It contained the phrase “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You” making what many consider to be the first commercial Christmas card. The first known use of the phrase “Merry Christmas” (in English) goes back more than 500 years to 1565 and of course there is the English Christmas carol, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” that dates back to the 16^th century as well.

In short, we’ve been using the phrase Merry Christmas for a long time. In Great Britain and Ireland, the phrase Happy Christmas is also common. Many think the word Merry carries the connotation of drunkenness and they don’t want that attitude attached to the holiday. A quick internet search will give you a couple websites saying Christians should never utter the phrase. I think there are a lot of people out there with too much time on their hands who spend too much time worrying about the minutia without considering the bigger picture.

Words have the power we give to them. No more, no less. In the early 1960s, the comedian Lenny Bruce was arrested multiple times and driven to bankruptcy for using words that you can now hear after 9 pm on network television and all day on premium cable. There are words today that we can’t even utter without fear of being branded a racist or a terrorist, regardless of the context.

I found a great list of how to say Merry Christmas around the world on the Santas.net website. Here are some of my favorites (Go to the website for the complete list):

Afrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Sheng Dan Kuai Le
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri’cho o Rish D’Shato Brichto
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig Chridheil dhuibh
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Switzerland (Swiss-German): Schöni Wienachte
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Z Rizdvom Khrystovym or S rozhdestvom Kristovym
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!

Regardless of how you say Merry Christmas, or whatever wish you hope to share with others today, do it with love. For me, the basic way will do.

Merry Christmas!.

A couple years ago, I commented that I hated December 21^st because it was the shortest day of the year. A friend asked if budget cuts had made the government shorten the day from the standard 24 hours. Since that day, I have chosen my words more carefully (at least when it comes to this topic…).

December 21 is the Winter Solstice, the day of the year with the fewest daylight hours (9 hours, 29 minutes and 32 seconds). That makes it my least favorite day of the year. On the other hand, December 22 is a much happier day because we get another moment or two of daylight (9 hours, 29 minutes and 34 seconds).

It is easy to try to describe the solstices (solsticii?) in terms of the sun’s movement, although it is more accurate to say the earth’s rotation causes the sun to be at a different angle to the Earth. For the Winter Solstice, the Earth has rotated placing the North Pole 23.5 degrees away from the sun. The North Pole and people living above the Arctic Circle will not see the sun at all at this time of year. It is also important to remember that the Winter Solstice is only an issue in the Northern Hemisphere. If we are tilted away from the sun, the Southern Hemisphere is at full summer.

While this is the Christmas season for much of the world, there are many, many other holidays celebrated this time of year. A quick count of “Solstice Celebrations” yielded 34 different festivals and holidays. Some of them are no longer observed and others have small groups or are extremely regional. Many of these go back to the lack of daylight and the fear of the dark from ancient cultures. A great tradition that I’m sorry most of us don’t participate in is telling “scary ghost stories” on the night of the solstice (Ever wondered about that song lyric? Check back tomorrow and I will be participating in the Advent Ghosts 2013 storytelling project that meets that exact description.)

I celebrate Christmas at this time of the year. We decorate two Christmas trees, attend a Christmas Eve church service and open presents on Christmas morning. That said, I realize there are people with other beliefs around me. I don’t see how acknowledging other people’s beliefs or recognizing that they may celebrate differently does anything to undermine Christmas. I honestly think people look for things to be offended about when they protest the phrase “Happy Holidays”. If someone tells me “Happy Holidays” (which I truly, rarely hear) I see that as someone wishing me well. My response is always “Thank you!” followed by a “You too!” or “Merry Christmas!” And that is really all we have to say.

For now, though, I think I need to turn on some more lights around the house. It is getting really dark….

 The sound of steel drums evokes thoughts of warm sunny places: Jamaica, Dominica, the Bahamas, and Charleston, West Virginia.

Ummm, okay, maybe the last one of those places isn’t warm and sunny at the moment, but what if I told you that one of the nation’s premiere steel drum manufacturers is in West Virginia? Michael Perkins, owner and chief artisan for Fancy Pans Steel Drums, moved his business to West Virginia a few months ago.

Perkins was originally born in Boone County, the son of a coal miner. His family moved from there to Charleston and then on to Washington D.C. Later, he headed to the West Coast where he learned his trade. He has been hammering out steel drums for 20 years. Two months ago he moved back to West Virginia and has set up shop, turning out more drums.

These aren’t toys. These are high quality, professional grade steel drums that are shipped all over the country, and probably the world. They are tuned to A440. If you want to find out more about Perkins and his drums, visit his website at Fancy Pans Steel Drums.

While Perkins is probably one of the more unique local businesses, it isn’t the only one. When it comes to Christmas shopping or giving unique gifts, so many people think of the “big” stores. And they are fine. I’m sure at some point I will don my armor, say a prayer and venture out into one or more of those places for a gift or two. But what about the small businesses? The locally owned? The entrepreneurs in business because they love what they do, not because they are looking to get rich? (This past Saturday was Small Business Saturday, but that doesn’t mean it is the only day you can shop small…)

As of a couple years ago, there were more than 22 million sole proprietorships in the United States. Those are independent businesses; people working for themselves either full-time or part-time for some additional cash. Many of those people are artisans who make beautiful crafts and art for the sake of making art. Every artist, be it a painter, a potter, an author or man who hammers steel drums, wants their art to be appreciated. The way they do that is by getting it out in front of the public. That happens when they take it out and sell it at the local craft show, at the co-op, in the storefront or online. And there is nothing more special for an artisan than selling your work to someone who is truly excited about it. I get a thrill every time someone asks me to sign one of my books.

The advantage of buying local is, if you ask nicely, many artisans are only too happy for you to come by the workshop to see your gift being made and will even sign it for you. I don’t know of any gift you can buy in a big box store that can make that special connection..

Every year it seems as if “Christmas” gets earlier and earlier. I put Christmas in quotes because Christmas doesn’t move, but “Christmas” does: commercials on televisions, displays in stores and even lights on people’s homes.

The stores with their ads and displays, I can understand if not actually agree with. Many retail stores make their entire year in the month or so leading up to Christmas. They’re trying to get a jump on their competition. The only problem is their competition is trying to get a jump on them. And it gets fairly ridiculous. Kids are tripping over Christmas trees trying to pick out their Halloween costumes.

This line of thinking got me wondering why people were lighting their Christmas decorations so early, though. There isn’t any possible benefit from it. You don’t make more money if you turn those outside lights on early. In fact, you end up spending more.

According to the website Christmas Lights ETC, the average cost of a LIGHT Christmas display is $10.75 for the season. (I assume they define the season as being about a month long, but I couldn’t confirm that.) The typical HEAVY usage costs about $115.26 and the typical ENTHUSIASTIC display costs $310.73. (For the record, the website says that if those same three displays were prepared with LED lights, the costs would be $1.63, $15.32 and $40.15, respectively. Seems like everyone who wants to go out and light up their yards early should at least invest in LED lights.)

Our country is going through a difficult time right now. People are more polarized and angrier than at any time in my memory. It seems as if every argument begins with “You’re stupid if you don’t agree with me.” And goes downhill from there. Of course, there are very few discussions. Everything is an argument.  I find it at least a little ironic that we just passed the 50^th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. I don’t think things are as contentious now as they were at that time, but it seems like it is getting close.

So maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s why people are lighting Christmas lights early and playing the occasional Christmas song. As we approach Thanksgiving, they’re looking for something to be thankful for and Christmas represents it. Christmas is an opportunity to be happy and to love friends and neighbors, simply for being friends and neighbors regardless of how they feel about the hot-button issue of the moment.

For years I have heard people say that Thanksgiving gets overlooked because we can’t find a way to commercialize it. To me that’s a good thing. Thanksgiving is still probably one of the purest of the holidays. It is closest to its original intent.

With everything else going on right now, let’s just take a moment to be thankful. Okay?

Happy Thanksgiving..

Halloween isn’t exactly Black Friday, but it is the highest revenue-producing holiday for the candy industry, with approximately $2.5 billion in sales. That’s an incredible amount of sugar for one day. Of course, the less desirable Halloween candy tends to hang around much longer.

While Halloween is a night many dress in costumes and knock on doors asking/begging for candy, others look forward to the ‘trick” aspect, moving into the world of the criminal (See Devil’s Night in Detroit). It didn’t always mean that, however. Believe it or not, there is actually a religious significance to Halloween.

Halloween is All-Hallows’-Eve which is the night-before-All Saints’ Day. All Saints’ Day is also known as All Hallows Day—see the connection? Until the 1950s, when the Catholic Church simplified the church calendar, it was actually a liturgical vigil. All Saints’ Day also corresponds to the Day of the Dead where people (mostly in Latin America) remember those who have passed on, a sort of Memorial Day. Day of the Dead typically celebrates children who have died on November 1 and adults on November 2.

Trick or Treating has its roots in “souling” or “guising” (wearing disguises) where the poor would go around door to door asking for treats in exchange for saying prayers for the dead. Wearing costumes is a Celtic tradition where people would try to copy or placate evil spirits. When the poor would knock, they would beg for soul cakes—a type of short bread. According to legend, one chef was determined to make eaters think of heaven with every bite. She cut a hole in the middle of the cake, dropped it in hot fat and the donut was born.

Of course, if you go back even further than the Middle Ages, the pagan festival of Samhain was celebrated around the same time and marked the end of fall and the coming of winter, bridging the ancient world to a time of darkness and death. The church either “blessed” that tradition and took it over, or simply created a new festival to give the people something to celebrate.

Like a lot of holidays, modern society has changed the original message or purpose away from the religious and toward the secular, corrupting the original purpose. I enjoy the fun of Halloween, but in some ways I think it’s a shame that we’ve moved away from the original idea of remembering those who have gone on before us, saints or not, and reflecting on the year that has just past.

It is a real shame, though, that no one is giving out donuts for Trick or Treat anymore. I could get into that one…

Read the rest of the stories from me and a few friends on the Halloween 2013 Collection page. They include a couple works of fiction and a couple creative nonfiction pieces. You be the judge..