Bath at Christmas 2021

I love a good Halloween costume party and hosted parties for years so I was a bit taken back at this group of "older than grade school dress up for the Christmas play."

When we stopped this group of roaming revelers we asked them why the colorful garb? They looked at us quite surprised that we didn't know.

"It's Christmas. We are celebrating Christmas".

Christmas custom in the UK: wandering, costumed, nativity-scene revelers pub hopping especially when there's a sports game on, in the month of December. Cosplay at Christmas in Bath.

American Museum Christmas

We, the volunteers had lots of fun making 90% of the decorations for the American Museum's 5 holiday trees. 2,000, mostly women, hours were crafted on decorations keeping in mind that early Americans did not celebrate Christmas. Since the Museum's history spans 1690 to 1860 we try to remain true to the eras.

The wandering revelers above remind me that perhaps the Puritans who got their knickers in a twist, outlawing any Christmas celebrations in the 1600's believing it was an excuse for partying, drinking and merry making, were prophetic.

Rumor has it, Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Consort Albert, brought the Christmas tree and celebrations from Germany to England and only in the mid 18th century did the practice become popular when the Pennsylvania Germans brought the Christmas tree and traditions to the US. Danke schön Albert!

All the decorations were made with nature and hearth in mind using the types of materials available to the colonists: paper, wool, felt, fabric, thread.

Central Hall of the Manor house tree filled with paper decorations.

Needlepoint, knitting, quilling, embroidery, quilting, stenciling.

One of our volunteers made a memorable quilt tree.

Christmas Markets

Christmas Markets managed to be held at the 11th hour with guidance on assembling to keep interactions to a minimum. It's a shame for the vendors whose lively hoods depend on these events as attendance is low while Omicron ravages its way through England.

Carrot fund, well why not.

Bath Abbey during a pre-quarantine concert with the Moon art display.

Our local ice skating rink.

Uninvited Guest

Our neighbor Renata always set a plate at the table at Christmas time for the unexpected stranger, welcome guest or Holy Spirit, a traditional Polish custom. Whilst that is an endearing part of Christmas tradition for some, we had an unwelcome guest.

December 17 Covid arrived giving Wendy a positive dose of what is probably Omicron. Youssef's tests remain negative. Nonetheless we could not travel to Sweden as we had planned. Board (bored) games, books, cooking, crafts, internet rabbit holes and window views make the days go by.

2 days of testing just in case one test was false positive.

We are happy to have access to home test kits and a good NHS follow up service texting me, cheering me on and offering resources. Remaining true to the rules I remain indoors watching Christmas from afar or is it near in our hearts. The symptoms have been very mild thanks to triple jabs.

Family

Our monthly family phone calls are such a great way to touch base, connect and get to know my family despite the great distances between all of us. Each month someone comes up with a question about life, philosophy, values, music and our past remembrances of the same house we all grew up in. Young and oldish are welcome contributors.

It reminds me of a beautiful handmade quilt. Each colorful fabric square well crafted like a person's life story combined with our interactions and the family phone calls are the threads that bind and strengthen us.

Another English Custom, why do they say Happy not Merry Christmas? It was believed that Happy was better mannered than Merry which was associated with the rowdy lower class.

Merry and Happy Christmas!