Category: Nonfiction

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Coffee and Contemplation: Saint Nicholas Day

Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated worldwide on December 6, the anniversary of the death of a third-century saint known as Saint Nicholas. He is the inspiration of the modern-day Santa Claus but don’t confuse this celebration with Christmas. Though they have similarities, the tradition of leaving gifts in stockings or shoes is believed to have been started by Saint Nicholas and later incorporated into Christmas. St. Nicholas is known for selling all his possessions and giving his money to the poor. Raised as a devout Christian, St. Nicholas dedicated his whole life to serving the sick and suffering. 

Sailors, travelers, clergy, school children, and thieves, to name a few, all claim Saint Nicholas as their patron saint. He was born in what is now modern-day Turkey. This holiday is sometimes called the Feast of Saint Nicholas. This is the day to offer small, meaningful gifts. These could be candy, chocolate, or even a note to someone special. It need not be something elaborate. Start the holidays early with little mini gifts tonight. I’m down for this idea of a feast. Thanksgiving was recent but I’m hungry again. Perhaps that’s what I’ll start calling Thanksgiving from now on. The US celebrates the Feast of Saint Nicholas a couple weeks early. That sounds like an easy way to explain to foreigners what Thanksgiving is all about.

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International Ninja Day

They could be behind you and you wouldn’t know. One could be sitting next to you as you read this. Ninjas. International Ninja Day recognizes the history and influence in pop culture of the Ninja. Whether it’s a historical period film of feudal Japan, or a bunch of mutated turtles who were trained by a mutated rat, Ninjas have become a large part of pop culture in the US. The international holiday was started in 2003 by Ninja Burger to celebrate the Ninja Speed their burgers were delivered. You are encouraged to learn about the art of Ninjitsu and not eat a bunch of burgers. 

Ninjas were also called Shinobi. They were covert agents and mercenaries in feudal Japan. Their specialties included espionage, deception, and surprise attacks. This irregular warfare was considered dishonorable and beneath the honor of the Samurai. Despite the influences of pop culture, historic accounts of real ninjas are scarce. I’d wager this is because they were skilled in the art of deception and ‘invisibility.’ They were invisible in the way Batman hides in the dark to be invisible. I would like to point out there is no International Samurai Day and I feel this is equally important to learn about. So…watch out for Ninjas!

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What’s New Wednesday: December

For the blog this month it’s business as usual. Not too many new things going on. I do hope to have another serialized story finished in time to start posting around the middle of the month. It’s titled Yuletide Aviary so it would be nice to have the first post fall around Yule. I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s about birds who help Santa and the elves. These are very adult birds, so this is not a story for children. I’ll have more details about that story later this month as it’s mostly an outline for the moment.

In other news, I haven’t posted much to my Instagram this year and was considering scheduling poetry posts again. I think the last one was back in May. I haven’t decided if I want to start that soon or wait until the new year. I feel I should focus on stories rather than Instagram posts. There’s not much else to talk about. I’m hoping to have lots of new things for the new year, but I haven’t planned that far ahead yet. Some things are too far away to worry about planning for now. As always, if there’s something you would like to see on this blog, please leave a comment. I never know if people actually read these posts or just like them and move on. I’d love to get something other than spam in my comments.