Happy Saint Knut's Day!

When I was growing up, Christmas Day night was always something of a let-down. All that holiday build-up of adrenaline got expended in less than 12 hours! 

I'm not arguing against the holiday or its traditions. I love them all! Simply, it seemed to me that the holiday should be stretched somewhat. 

My mother felt much the same and would often save a present under the tree for the evening. Often, the present was from my grandmother in California, but the practice backfired one year when the gift turned out to contain fruit. 

Still, my mom had the right idea. As an adult, I often save a wrapped gift for later. I have also always admired holidays that take Christmas into January. They make immense sense to me. December is exciting and fast-paced and then...January arrives and the snow starts falling more and more, and the holidays get really fairly pedantic and unexciting until the Spring. Why not make January a little more interesting?

Epiphany is January 6th, Three Kings Day, the day after the twelfth night. One year, my mom baked a cake for Epiphany. She followed the English tradition of placing trinkets within the cake. 

January 6th is currently somewhat spoiled by dumb politics. However, much to my delight, I recently discovered that there is another "final" day of Christmas: Saint Knut's Day. In Swedan, Saint Knut's Day is when the tree is taken down (in many countries, the tree is set-up on Christmas Eve, rather than a few weeks prior). Knut himself was a martyred king (he is another saint, who was killed in a church). 

The holiday is apparently a children's holiday with resemblance to Guy Fawkes Day--that is, the holiday involves parties and asking people for candy but also collecting stuff (trees) to burn, a kind of "let's make clean-up fun with a vengeance" day. 

 Happy St. Knut's Day!