December 27th - St. John's Day, Patron Saint of Booksellers, Publishers Printers and Writers

Saint John's Day (December 27th) is the Second Day of Christmas, the first not falling on the 25th as one would imagine, but on the 26th, or Boxing Day as we Brits like to hold tight to with tradition.

Attending one of apparently several swell Boxing Day parties around town here in abundantly English/Irish populated Petaluma, CA yesterday, the scene of a discarded snow-flocked Christmas tree repurposed from one neighbor's curbside to another's porch struck a chord in that the American culture is quick to be done with Yuletide festivities after the 25th. Never mind the Twelve Days of Christmas and all that.

And so that brings us back to Saint John, apostle and gospel-maker, one of the favored few and the patron saint of booksellers, publishers, printers and (appropriately) writers.

According to one Gervase Markham in The English Husbandman of 1635, observance of the weather on the second day of Christmas predicts what we have in store for us come February. The weather on the third day of Christmas is a foreteller of March, the fourth of April and so on through the year.

 

 

Comments

[Rachel A]

Thanks for reminding me of the bag of books in the trunk that I've been meaning to take to Copperfield's to see if they'll take any! ;-)
Happy Day #2 (I like the weather trivia - never heard that before... Undecided as to whether I like the weather forecast tho'! :-)
Loving today's foggy morning; I'm happily in bed w coffee & books!!