Yule Greetings - The Big Freeze Begins

 

A Belsnickle guarding the woodbox

     This December, the serious cold arrived early and stayed there.  Temperatures plummeted to not much above 20 degrees with some days well below zero with wind chills.  This is unusual for this time of year.  We don't usually begin to get this cold until January and although it has been quite cold, we have had very little snow.  I dislike the intense cold, but I dislike slippery, poorly plowed roads much, much more.

    The lakes will freeze over rapidly now, which will delight the ice fishermen.  We, on the other hand are  now on twice daily chicken check to make sure their water is still unfrozen, the heater is still working in the coop, and the birds are all still well.  At least with a twice daily check, none of the precious eggs are exploding due to being frozen.  A chicken's egg production declines significantly as the light wanes and the cold comes in, so we appreciate every egg we get.  The pullets - the ones who were chicks this year - are in fair egg production, however the two "little girls", Isis and Judy, who produce lovely light blue eggs and who were hatched last year, both decided that this was an opportune time to molt and lost enough feathers to stuff a small pillow.  This, of course, meant that they were less resistant to the cold, and they have ventured outside the coop as infrequently as possible.  Isis initially slept in one of the nest boxes until that got too cold.  Each of them have now created warm, snuggly spots in the straw inside the coop leaving the rest of the girls to sleep on the perches.  

     As with Halloween, we have something of a reputation to maintain with our decorations in front of the house.  Harvest put the Santa with his corgi sleigh out as soon as it was within the bounds of propriety to do so.  It's always a delicate balance of timing - too soon is in bad taste, too late means frozen fingers.   I came home one evening to find the extravaganza below waiting for me to admire the following morning.

     Santa and his team of faithful corgis must be staked down well in order to resist the winds that kick up at this time of year.  Santa has been found more than once keeled over, flat on his back in the morning snow like a drunk in a ditch.  He was staked and strapped down this year with mover's belts.  Alas, the sleigh took a tumble on its side, but it was soon righted and strapped firmly to its stake. 

    Given that this is Wisconsin, the ground around those stakes will freeze solid, and they will not be able to be removed until spring.  We usually have to wait for a January thaw to bring Santa and the corgis back into the garage where they will reside until the following December, but Harvest had them rigged this year to be able to put them back in storage without waiting for March to release them from the ice and snow.  Not so for many of our neighbors, whose outdoor ornaments are still in place well into February and beyond.  Their Christmas trees seem to remain indoors as well, fully lit.  One only hopes that they are all artificial trees.  The fire hazard posed by natural trees would make any sensible person shudder.

   We went all out with Yule figurines this year, bringing out every Santa, Belsnickle, and winter goddess we own and decorating in true Victorian fashion.  They covered every possible surface in the three main rooms downstairs, then spilled out into the foyer and the bathroom. I will say that it is somewhat unnerving to have any kind of Yule figurine placed in the bathroom, much less one of the larger ones.  There's nowhere to hide, and to judge by their solemn faces, they seem quite put out to be living there in exile from the rest of their clan.  There are quite a few of these figurines that we have collected over the years.  Here is a sampling:  

This is a papier mâché Belsnickle.  Belsnickle is a sort of "servant" of St. Nicholas who originated in Germany and eventually merged with St. Nicholas himself.  He is a gift bringer, but he also carries birch switches to use on naughty children   Over the decades he's been gentled into a folksy Santa which is how I like him best.

There wasn't much room for teapots on the buffet with these fellows standing around a tiny Yule log.  

     A lot of the Belsnickle figures look like little sea captains holding round life preservers.  When not engaged in his Yuletide duties, St. Nicholas is also the patron of sailors (which makes sense) and prostitutes (which doesn't).  If you look at the one below on the right, he is wearing seaman's boots.  

    

    Two of my absolute favorites among the "menfolk" of Yuletide are Black Peter and the Ghost of Christmas Present from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (above).  Black Peter carries a bag of coal and provides Santa with the list of naughty children.  To judge by the size of the book in his hands, that year was quite a list.  Being the practical child in my family, I would have happily accepted the coal and gone off to put it into the fireplace.  I've been tempted to leave him out all year.  The Ghost of Christmas Present delights me with his beneficence and hearkens back to the pre-Christian Holly King who ruled during the winter months.  This figurine shows the two children, Want and Ignorance, beneath his robes.  

     The women of Yule have a special place all to themselves.   Before Santa Claus became the universal symbol of the season, there were other gift bringers; many of them female.  None of them carried switches  or coal.  They either brought gifts or put you on time out in the corner.   

    Clockwise from top left: 

     Frau Perchta or Mother Berchta.  She travels about on the Yule Goat (or Julbock), Master Skeggy. 

     La Befana, the old woman of Italy carrying her bag of treats. She rides on a broomstick and carries a lantern to light her way through the snow.

     Frau Holle  or Holda,  a pre-Christian legendary figure who survived in popular belief well into the 19th century as the goddess of winter and women's crafts, especially spinning.  From Christmas Eve until 12th Night on January 6th, no spinning wheel may turn lest the spinner's work for the next year be poor.  I observe it faithfully, though I have to cover up my wheels to avoid using them, and my hands positively itch to spin long before 12th Night.

     Lucina, the Child of Light, who brings cakes to her parents on Christmas morning (and a pot of coffee, one hopes).

     The Yule Fairy.  There are several stories, most of them written fairly recently, of fairies who celebrate the returning of the sun on the Winter Solstice.  

    At the bottom left are three tiny figures of Frau Holle, Lucina, and La Befana.

    Harvest has also collected quite a number of Mrs. Claus figures, and they have their own table where they sit together like a weekly coffee klatch with their various cakes taking a break from Santa . 

    

   I always like to have themes for each of the swags we put up at the three openings between the parlor, the center room, and the guest room/office.  This year the swag at the center room opening was All Things Shiny and included all of the moon and sun ornaments plus a small truckload of chandelier crystals which make lovely decorations and can be found at fairly reasonable prices at antique stores if you keep your eyes open.  We always leave a corner of one swag for our corgi-themed ornaments, and this swag was the home for them this year. The swag over the office/bedroom door was Friends of the Forest and included pine cones and critters including birds, bees, fireflies, flowers squirrels, foxes, and badgers both English and American.   The swag nearest the parlor was Fruit and Veg and included pickles, bananas, nuts, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, eggplant, and potted flower ornaments, among others.  There is even a savoy cabbage ornament.  No broccoli or cauliflower yet, but I'm keeping my eyes out.  The chandelier was bedecked with oak leaf ornaments this year through which floated the Yule Fairy doll, all dressed in white with her wand and sparkly wings.

     We do have a tree, but it's not what you might think.

     This is a corgi tree.  It's full of corgis getting into all sorts of mischief - tussling over bows, grabbing presents, racing off with ornaments, snatching at stockings, and playing all the tricks corgis like to do.  A Lucina figurine offers cakes to the shocked onlooker while the Queen looks on benevolently.

     Even the foyer is not exempt from decoration.  A huge swag snakes up the stairway, and my walking wheel is bedecked with twinkle lights which makes it impossible to spin and makes Mother Berchta happy.

     On December 21st, Yule, the Winter Solstice arrives.  We gathered with friends as we always do to welcome the return of the sun as people have done down through the ages.  We lit candles in the dark, talked about our hopes for the new year, and sang songs to welcome Lucina, the light bringer.  We enjoyed a wonderful feast including Harvest's fresh baked sun bread.

     On Christmas Eve, we settled down to watch A Christmas Carol.  Listening to or watching a film version of A Christmas Carol has become a household tradition.  Some years ago we attended a play here in Wisconsin where the final act with the Ghost of Christmas Past was performed in a graveyard with the audience huddled around in the snow to watch.  I felt badly for the actor playing Scrooge that night since no amount of underclothing was going to keep him from freezing in that nightshirt.

    Christmas Day is often quiet in our house.  Rather than a frenetic gathering with children racing about everywhere and Jello molds brought by well-meaning relatives, we prefer a quiet day by the fire.  This year two of our best friends spent the afternoon with us, and we drank tea and nibbled on finger foods while teaching them the game of Man Jongg and enjoying each other's company.  As I grow older, I realize that a group of four old ladies gathered around a card table laughing and joking by the fire while listening to the Man Jongg tiles clicking is a gift of the season. 

    

   And with the New Year, we move toward warmer days to come, though the cold still holds sway for now.  May this next year bring us all forward in health and safety, both in body and mind.