Showing posts with label Children's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children's Day. Show all posts

December 25 - Christmas Day

  Posted on December 25, 2021


This is an update of my post published on December 25, 2010:




This is my favorite holiday! I love arranging our collections of nutcrackers and Santas and snowmen, I love the beauty of twinkling lights on a great-smelling and highly decorated tree, and of course I especially love getting together with family for food and gifts and fun.



Part of the fun is getting ready—finding special treats that my grandkids will love, baking our family's favorite cookies, counting down the days on an advent calendar. 

Even though I love Christmas, I understand why some people bemoan the commercialism of the holiday, and why some people who are not Christians or who (for whatever reason) do not celebrate Christmas feel left out or even irritated by the pervasiveness of Christmas in the U.S.


I like to buy the occasional Christmas decoration, but I often
make my own, as well. I love having an eclectic - one might
say mixed-up-looking collection of decorations!


Christmas hasn't always been around!

At the beginning of the religion of Christianity, there was no such holiday as Christmas. There is no good reason to think that Jesus of Nazareth was born on December 25; as a matter of fact, there is no indication in the Bible of what day, month, or even season Jesus was born. When 4th-Century Christians (in other words, people who lived hundreds of years after the writing of the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament) decided that it would be nice to celebrate Jesus's birth as well as his death (and re-birth, according to believers), any date seemed equally likely or unlikely. So Pope Julius I chose a time of year that was already a time of fun and celebration, at the end of the Roman festival of Saturnalia, near the Winter Solstice.

Some Christians do not celebrate the holiday because of the shaky historical origins of the chosen date (or for other reasons). Puritans who first settled the New England area were opposed to the holiday, and celebrating Christmas in Boston was actually against the law from 1659 to 1681.

After the American Revolution, many English customs—including the Christmas holiday—became less popular, and the first U.S. Congress after the ratification of the Constitution, December 25, 1789, Congress was in session.

Christmas was not declared a federal holiday in the U.S. until 1870.



For more on Christmas, check out other December entries and entries from other years (in the "Also on this date" section below).



Also...

In the Republic of Congo, it's Children's Day, and in both Angola and Mozambique, it's Family Day.

What these three African nations have in common is a relatively recent time of Marxist government. During the Marxist regimes, Christmas Day was changed to Children's or Family Day celebrations.



I have a feeling that people in these African countries do pretty much the same thing every year, whether it's called Christmas or Family Day or whatever. They probably gather together with loved ones, eat together, perhaps exchange gifts, play games, dance or sing.





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July 24 - Children's Day – Vanuatu

 Posted on July 24, 2021


This is an update of my post published on July 24, 2010:




Vanuatu is an island nation in the South Pacific, lying between Australia and Fiji. It isn't just one island, but rather an archipelago of 83 islands and islets.



Today the people of Vanuatu celebrate Children's Day, which has two primary themes: “Stop violence against children” and “Give a child the chance to express an opinion today.” In the morning marches are held, followed by speeches, a dance, and other activities at schools.



Kids get the afternoon off from school and are expected to have fun with their families. Some children receive presents from their parents, but folks often remind parents that it doesn't matter if they can't afford to buy their kids presents―that the day is aimed at encouraging parents and kids to spend time together.





How'd they get there?

People have settled the various islands of Vanuatu for at least 4,000 years, undoubtedly arriving by boat. However, there are a limited number of plant and animal species on the islands. This is most likely explained by the fact that the islands are quite new, geologically speaking. There are no large mammals native to the island, although people have brought the usual critters with them (such as hogs, dogs, and cattle).



The most common indigenous mammals seem to be bats and rats. There's not much mystery about how they got to the islands: the bats flew, like the many bird and insect species, and the rats were probably stowaways on people's dugouts and boats.


The Vanuatuan animals that are very common are fish, corals, and more than 4,000 species of mollusks. Mollusks are land or water creatures that create protective “homes” of one or two shells, plus squids and octopi. Some examples are snails, clams, conchs, and oysters.






Some of these creatures, including cone shells and stonefish, are fatally poisonous.





Did you know?

One tourist attraction off the shore of Vanuatu is a sunken luxury liner similar to the Titanic. Instead of being sunk super deep down in cold water, however, this luxury liner rests on a shallow sea floor in clear, dive-able water.





Vanuatu boasts a banyan tree as large as a soccer field!



Vanuatu also boasts the world's most active volcano: Mount Yasur has been erupting continuously for MORE THAN A CENTURY!!




Yasur has been active and erupting consistently since at least 1774 - but probably centuries before that - and has been been considered erupting continuously for 120 years. 

Since the lava tends to be less thick-and-sticky than in some active volcanoes, it is a bit less dangerous - and that's why many people have gone to Vanuatu to peer into the crater and watch the lava with a lot less difficulty and danger than one would imagine. HOWEVER - and that's a big however! - all volcanoes are dangerous, and there are very definitely unsafe places, actions, and times with Mount Yasur!!!


Also on this date:






















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