The New Year

We made it through the holiday's for the most part. Tonight is New Year's Eve and we have neglected to make plans. That is okay as drinking and staying up late are not in the works for me anyways. Christmas in Bermuda was a blast. It may have been because of good food and family (see how the pregnant lady mentions food before family!?), but the weather held out and we enjoyed ourselves.

Breaks of sun made Bermuda seem like a tropical paradise for my family from chilly Minnesota, but the rain held off Christmas day and we were able to go to Elbow Beach for the typical Christmas party on the beach. My parents popped the bottle of Champagne and we had lots of Christmas cookies to share. It felt great yet slightly odd to be on the beach over Christmas. I am not sure anyone missed the snow.

Most stores, tourist attractions, and even restaurants were closed over the holiday, so we spent some good time exploring the beaches and hiking around the island. Most things were even closed on Saturday as Boxing Day was celebrated. I have heard of Boxing Day, but knew nothing about it other than the fact that it is a British celebrated holiday. Through some research I have found that Boxing Day is always celebrated on December 26th. To me it just seems like another day to give off of work, but according to a website by Woodlands Junior School in the UK, "During the Age of Exploration, when great sailing ships were setting off to discover new land, A Christmas Box was used as a good luck device. It was a small container placed on each ship while it was still in port. It was put there by a priest, and those crewmen who wanted to ensure a safe return would drop money into the box. It was then sealed up and kept on board for the entire voyage. If the ship came home safely, the box was handed over to the priest in the exchange for the saying of a Mass of thanks for the success of the voyage. The Priest would keep the box sealed until Christmas when he would open it to share the contents with the poor." Current day families, schools, and churches still collect money and gifts to distribute to the poor the day after Christmas. Okay so maybe people do get off of work another day in Britain, but it seems like a lovely holiday to help others and spend time with family, so maybe the US should adopt this tradition.

Until next time...