This week is St. Lucia Day. When the weather has allowed, we also took our telescope out to explore the night sky and the full moon. We also talked about Bodhi Day, a little late.
Bodhi Day is celebrated on December 8th. For Buddhists, it is a celebration of the day when Buddha found enlightenment. Siddhartha Gautama was born into a wealthy family, but left everything behind to search for understanding of the suffering in the world. He spoke with many people and decided to fast and meditate under a tree. Under this tree, he discovered the eight-fold path that would lead to enlightenment. This includes the right view, intention, action, speech, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. This is one of the four noble truths. To celebrate this discovery, people decorate ficus trees with lights and meditate. They may take a moment to honor those who have helped them learn along their path. Genevieve practiced some yoga poses and we talked about people in our lives who serve as teachers.
St. Lucia's Day is the 13th of December, which is one week after St. Nick's Day. This commemorates a young Christian girl who was martyred in Rome. Lucia, or Lucy, is often depicted with a wreath of candles around her head. In her honor, girls dress in white gown with red sashes and wear lingonberry or evergreen wreaths with candles. Boys often dress as "star boys." Traditionally, the oldest daughter in a family wakes up early and serves breakfast to the family. Breakfast is usually Lussekatters. Genevieve helped me to make these breakfast breads.
When the weather has allowed, we've been watching the night sky and enjoying the full moon. I have the sky map app, which helps identify constellations and other night sky objects you might see like the International Space Station. We read Snow Moon, which is actually more about a snowy owl than the moon, and a favorite, Little Owl's Night. We also read the beautifully illustrated Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jerry Pinkney. One Winter's Night is the story of a pregnant cow looking for a place to give birth, ending in the barn with Mary and Joseph.
We read several other Christmas books this week. Santa Duck was a big hit with both of them, especially when he sings "Jingle quack.". We read the classic, How the Grinch stole Christmas and watched the animated movie. Apple Tree Christmas tells the story of a pioneer family surviving a blizzard before Christmas but losing their favorite apple tree. The Third Gift follows a young boy helping his father harvest myrrh, and is an interesting view of the story of the three wise men. Genevieve loves the Disney Storybook collections, so we read the Christmas collection. Auntie Claus was the story of the Kringle family and what might happen if Santa's nephew stopped believing. Since Genevieve loves animals, we read McDuff's Christmas and the beautifully photographed Christmas Wish. We read the Christmas Harold book, Harold at the North Pole, and an alphabet book, B is for Bethlehem.
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