The Festive Season

"Even the poorest cottage welcomed the festive season with green decorations of bay and holly--the cheerful fire glanced its rays through the lattice, inviting the passenger to raise the latch and join the gossip knot huddled round the hearth...

  ...At other times we derive a great portion of our pleasures from the mere beauties of nature... The song of the bird, the murmur of the stream, the breathing fragrance of spring, the soft voluptuousness of summer, the golden pomp of autumn;

earth with its mantle of refreshing green, and heaven with its deep delicious blue and its cloudy magnificence, all fill us with mute but exquisite delight, and we revel in the luxury of mere sensation.

But in the depth of winter, when nature lies despoiled of every charm, and wrapped in her shroud of sheeted snow... The dreariness and desolation of the landscape, the short gloomy days and darksome nights... make us more keenly disposed for the pleasures of the social circle...

Heart calleth unto heart; and we draw our pleasures from the deep wells of living kindness...."

Excerpts from OLD CHRISTMAS (1875) from The Sketch Book by Washington Irving describing the traditional English Christmas.

Thanks so much for coming by!

Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline

Please join me at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays
House In the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday