Chinese Lanterns & Other Traditions

All he did was turn his lantern on.
I had no idea why it could possibly be so cool, but the Chinese lettering and lovely art that glowed red through the paper hanging from the ceiling sucked me in and my pal Cliff, with his parents smiling modestly in the background, began to tell us all [...]

Holidays Around the World – Kwanzaa

While relatively new on the holiday schedule, the North American celebration of Kwanzaa is rooted in the strong cultural heritage of people of African descent and their annual celebrations.
Kicking off on December 26, 2007 the seven-day festival of “first fruits” (Kwanzaa’s definition in Swahili) honours seven principles or Kawaida:

* Umoja (Unity) To strive for and [...]

Holidays Around the World – Winter Solstice

A Winter chill is in the air. The days are short. Vacation planning to warm February destinations is at its peak.
And, by the end of next week, much of the world will be in the midst of mid-Winter celebrations that range from the simple placement of special gifts of food on Winter dinner tables to [...]

Learning About Dia de los Muertos

Well, the Great Pumpkin came and went, leaving some fun goodies for our allergy-prone tiny person.
…And then the Great Pumpkin sat down and ate all of the tiny person’s donated candy.
…And now the Great Pumpkin is paying the serious price for eating every last one of those little sugar candies and chocolates in one sitting.
OH [...]

Starting Family Holiday Traditions

It’s Thanksgiving Eve around these parts and alongside the onset of the holiday season comes the nearly compulsive desire by practically everyone I know to pull out some utterly fantastic family tradition that is yet to have been test driven.
I sooooo love the day dreams in my head of cozy holidays during which the family [...]