January: From Dreaded and Dreary to Mystical, Magical and Miraculous
January 6 th , the 12 th Day of Christmas, and the last. Tonight, on Little Christmas (a.k.a. Three Kings, the Epiphany), the Magi, following the Star of Bethlehem, arrived from the East at the manger bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. Once the night of the most raucous Christmas reveling, the 12 th Night, if remembered at all, now marks the official end of the holiday season. Time to take down the decorations, store them away until next December. What follows “the most wonderful time of the year”? Weeks and weeks of cold, dark, dull winter. Not long ago, I was one of the many people who fell into a deep, lengthy post-holiday funk. The sight of the Christmas tree carcasses, once glowing and glorious, littering the sidewalks, of colored lights removed from windows, of storefronts and hallways stripped of their festive pointsettias and decorations, all made me genuinely sad . Everything so naked, bare. The excitement of the season stil...