Monday's Musings: It's Boxing Day (among other things)!

The sweet little eggplant figurine, known as Lady Eggplant (who is pictured here in the image above), came to my place to spend time in my indoor succulent garden with the other Christmas characters* that visit for the season. This morning she told me that she needed some down time today, to take a break from all the socializing that she has been doing during the "holidays", and so she stepped away from my succulents to be alone alongside my wreath, which I have atop my easel.

Lady Eggplant is feeling somewhat despondent because she just heard about a quote made by Ursula K. Le Guin, which is, "I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant." Lady Eggplant was quite hurt by this remark, and she pointed out that she always went to great pains to dress imaginatively, and admitted that this was no mean feat given the size of her touché.
Lady Eggplant supported her well respected opinion by insisting, "that folks should, in this supposed politically correct day and age — which is especially prevalent at this time of year (when the on-going debate to use the term Christmas tree or holiday tree prevails) — be mindful about what they say about vegetables too!" 

Her thoughts were fueled by the fact that not only is today Monday the 26th, but it is also, a day known as the first day of Kwanzaa, the sixth day of Chanukah, "the second day of Christmas", Saint Stephen's Day, Boxing Day, and in South Africa, December the 26th is known as Goodwill Day. 

The aforementioned are just a few of the things that are celebrated on this day; there are many other things, including the anniversary of a vow renewal for a young couple (more on that later).

Lady Eggplant concluded her argument (she gets no argument with me, she is preaching to the choir in this instance), by saying that if, on this day, folks are going to be careful about how they wish others a merry "whatever', they should also watch what they say about things that they grow too! She leaves you, dear reader, with an image of her making a final plea for her cause:

But, before Lady Eggplant and I sign off for the day, and wishing you a blessed and happy whatever you celebrate, as we bid you adieu; I'd like to give a shout out to Masayo and Masahiro, a young married couple who traveled to New York City from Japan last year to renew their wedding vows in a ceremony held on December 26th 2010, on New York's Upper Westside.

For those of you who live in the New York area, you undoubtedly recall that last year on December 26th we were buried — and I do mean buried — under mountains of snow! (If you'd like to refer to blog posts on TLLG about our snowstorm please click here and here.)

In any event, in spite of the severe snowstorm, Masayo and Masahiro had a beautiful ceremony, which yours truly described in a Virtual Story (DVD) that I produced. As you may know, dear reader, these Virtual Stories are now a part of the services offered by The Last Leaf Gardener and a link to the TLLG blog post describing a trailer for Masayo and Mashahrio can be found by clicking here; moreover, the synopsis of Masayo and Masahiro's virtual story may be viewed on Vimeo Channel by clicking here.

[*These have been mentioned in previous posts that you may refer to in a number of past TLLG entries including ones which you will find by clicking here as well as here and here.]