You'll Keep the Party Going All Winter with These 13 Delightful Holidays

00:00:00 - Caitlin Kindred
You.

00:00:01 - Jenny GK
Welcome to Tuesday.

00:00:04 - Caitlin Kindred
Is it Tuesday for you? It's Tuesday for us. All right. We're so glad you're here today. We are helping you learn a little something about holidays that happen between, like, early December and, like, January 1. Yeah.

00:00:21 - Jenny GK
The holiday season.

00:00:23 - Caitlin Kindred
Yep.

00:00:23 - Jenny GK
And call it that because there's a lot of holidays.

00:00:26 - Caitlin Kindred
Right? There's more than just like, two. And we talked about this a little bit in the last episode where we were talking about, like, different faiths have different holidays, and now we're sharing what those holidays are. And some of them are related to faith, some of them less so. But it's all learning. We're learning today.

00:00:44 - Jenny GK
Not an exhaustive list.

00:00:46 - Caitlin Kindred
No, there's a ton.

00:00:48 - Jenny GK
But speaking of lists. Yeah, she's at the top of my nice list and my naughty list. It's Caitlin.

00:01:01 - Caitlin Kindred
Some kids in the car with their parent going, wait, and the naughty list, how does that even work? And the parents are like, eat your snack. Okay, well, that's Jenny. She's my sneaky, persistent ice sculptor. Okay.

00:01:20 - Jenny GK
What? Yeah.

00:01:21 - Caitlin Kindred
I don't know. That one is stupid. But it's related to the winter holidays, so I had to share.

00:01:27 - Jenny GK
Absolutely. Absolutely. So let's get right into it. Let's talk about these winter holidays.

00:01:33 - Caitlin Kindred
Let's do start. We. We're going to start with St. Nicholas Day. That just happened. It did. It did. No, it didn't. Not yet.

00:01:46 - Jenny GK
This episode will play later. So we're talking like we're in the future.

00:01:50 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah. But this episode will air on December 5, and St. Nicholas Day is December 6. Leave that in there. Okay, so St. Nicholas Day celebrates St. Nicholas, obviously, right? He is St. Nicholas of Myra, the man whose life inspired the tradition of Santa Claus and Father Christmas. And right now, I'm playing the scene in my head from the Santa Claus when he's in jail, and he's like, name? And he goes, Chris Kringle. Yes. Name. Santa Claus. Name. Babo Natale. That's my favorite scene in the whole movie. It's perfect. That is a perfect Christmas movie. Anyway.

00:02:35 - Jenny GK
He as good as Santa Claus, too.

00:02:39 - Caitlin Kindred
No. Well, all right. I don't hate Santa.

00:02:41 - Jenny GK
I will tell yOu, and I have said this. On every Christmas episode, we've had that scene where he goes to the school party and gives all the teachers the presents they wanted as kids. I am sobbing.

00:02:57 - Caitlin Kindred
It's so beautiful. I love it. Toss across. Yeah, they had the. Oh, it's so good. I have chills when you talked about it. It's such a good episode. Or not episode. Also, it does have episodes. There's the Santa Claus. Oh, the new ones are out. Yeah, they're out. Okay. Anyway, Santa Claus was inspired by St. Nicholas. We're back. We're back on track. Okay, so St. Nick gave all of his money to the needy and was known for being compassionate to children. Let's see. The holiday honors the man on the anniversary of his death, which was December 6, 343 Ano Domini, not after death. Anno Domini ad. Okay, so lots of people celebrate with parades and feasts. They give gifts. There's festivals. Kids will leave letters for St. Nick. They'll leave carrots and grass for his donkey or his horse, which I thought was really sweet. And in the morning, they'll find little presents under their pillows or in their shoes and stockings. Sound familiar? Yeah. Or on plates they've set out for him. Oranges and chocolate coins are common treats. Those are given out on St. Nicholas Day as well. And that's December 6, which is tomorrow. Let me make sure of that before I just make up some stuff. But I'm pretty sure I'm right. Yeah, December 5 is too. Today is December 5. No, you're right. I knew I was. We just had St. Nicholas Day. We'll leave that in too.

00:04:24 - Jenny GK
You guys, it's hard when you're trying to live in the future.

00:04:28 - Caitlin Kindred
It's really hard. Also numbers. Okay. I was a math teacher. Right. I'm shutting up now. Your turn. You do one.

00:04:36 - Jenny GK
So the next one I'm going to talk about is Hanukah. And this most Americans are familiar with somewhat. It's an eight day long Jewish celebration of the dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This is not Jewish Christmas, and in fact, it's not even a major Jewish holiday. The high Holy days happened earlier in the year. There's the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and there's Yom Kippur, which is the day of Atonement. But this is a really fun celebration that after the Maccabean Revolt and the Greeks were defeated, the Jews got their temple back and it had been defiled. And so they worked and they cleaned and they lit the menorah. And the menorah we're familiar with normally has six candles with one helper candle in the center. So that's seven.

00:05:39 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay.

00:05:40 - Jenny GK
A Hanukkah is a special type of menorah that actually has eight daily candles and a helper candle. So it has nine.

00:05:49 - Caitlin Kindred
Oh, I didn't know there was a difference.

00:05:52 - Jenny GK
Yes. And so this is a special menorah. That's just used during Hanukah. The shamas is the name of the Helper Candle, and so it's lit each night and used to light the candles in the order that they have been lit each night. So first you do the first night, then the second night, you'll do the first and the second night, then the second and the third. Yes.

00:06:13 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay.

00:06:14 - Jenny GK
There's specific blessings that are said each night. There's a special one that kicks off Hanukah, and then each night, the blessings are repeated. There's all kinds of special foods, but most of them are fried in oil to celebrate the amount of oil that was able to burn in the menorah. When they cleaned up and rededicated the temple, they had enough to only burn a few nights. And actually, the miracle was it lasted for eight nights. So there's all kinds of oily, greasy foods, like lattes, potato pancakes, or soufcanyot, which is jelly filled donuts. It's the best food holiday for sure.

00:06:57 - Caitlin Kindred
Yum. And awesome. That's so cool. I didn't know that there were two different ones. This is amazing. Yeah.

00:07:03 - Jenny GK
So when you see a menorah that has six candles in one helper or seven candles, that's the typical.

00:07:12 - Caitlin Kindred
I wonder if the reason it got so viewed as, like, Jewish Christmas is because Christians had no idea how to explain it.

00:07:21 - Jenny GK
And it's marketing, right?

00:07:23 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah.

00:07:24 - Jenny GK
Companies realized that there was a large portion of the population that was not buying Christmas presents. But, hey, if we really play up the idea of Hanukah and eight nights of gift giving, it goes from small little trinkets to major gifts. That's good money. But a lot of Jewish families, Hanukah is a chance for rededication. This is a chance to spend some time together and have quality time. The candles are designed to burn for about 30 minutes, and during that time, a lot of families will turn off all their devices and even maybe the lights in their home and just enjoy each other's company by the light of the candles.

00:08:05 - Caitlin Kindred
I love that.

00:08:06 - Jenny GK
So that's how we honor it. We have Jewish heritage in our family, and so while we don't want to play Jewish, we honor Hanukah by lighting the candles and spending some time together each night for the eight nights of Hanukah in the quiet with each other.

00:08:24 - Caitlin Kindred
I love that. That's so nice. And eating. Yeah, I got to make sure you throw that in there too. That's special. How fun. Okay, so the next one. Actually, I should say this, because now I really do know where I am. In the calendar. And so we are currently in Hanukkah right now. Yes. So Happy Hanukkah, everyone. Happy Hanukkah. Okay, so the next one is the winter solstice, and this is on December 21, typically.

00:08:52 - Jenny GK
Right.

00:08:53 - Caitlin Kindred
But sometimes it's like the 22nd and sometimes it's the 20th. It kind of just depends on the position of the world. Yes. There you go. So it is the shortest day of the year, and we don't mean, like, hours. We mean, like, amount of daylight. Right. The shortest amount of daylight. So people all over the world participate in this one with festivals and celebrations. Many years ago, people would celebrate by lighting bonfires and candles to try and bring the sun sort of back. Right. In Canada, to honor all of these different cultural traditions that celebrate the winter solstice, the Vancouver Street Lantern Society created the city's Solstice Lantern Festival, and they offer workshops for people to go and create their own lanterns. And then on the night of the solstice, processions are all marching. There's A bunch of people marching throughout the city with fire perFormances, and this is cool. The attendees can also try to find their way through the labyrinth of light, which is a maze of 600 candles that invites visitors to let go of old thoughts and find new possibilities for the coming year. And this is a fun one, too. In Japan, a hot bath with Yuzu citrus fruits is believed to refresh the body and spirit. I mean, yeah. How does that not, right. Ward off illness and soothe dry winter skin? Because we all know that's a challenge all over the place. And, of course, this is here. But apparently, some rodents. This is how, you know, Jenny helped me write this notes. And by help me, I mean she did it. All rodents called Capy Bears Love Yuzu Bass. Cappy bears are like, if you don't know what that is, it's like a giant hamster. It is a giant hamster or giant guinea pig. They have a guinea pig face. They're huge. And they're supposed to be really sweet, I guess, but they're like the size of German shepherds. Yeah. They're so big.

00:10:44 - Jenny GK
They are rodents of unusual size.

00:10:46 - Caitlin Kindred
Right? They're massive. But they love those baths. And so some Japanese zoos will throw fruit into warm water for capy bearas to soak in because they love it on the winter solstice. Like, how funny is that? I love it.

00:11:00 - Jenny GK
So another holiday that is part of the celebration of solstice is called Yule. And so this is the Yule log. The Yule log, exactly. And so this is looking kind of because not only is it the shortest day of the year, it's also the longest night of the year.

00:11:20 - Caitlin Kindred
Yes.

00:11:20 - Jenny GK
And so a lot of cultures will have a longest night service for people who have lost a loved one that year.

00:11:29 - Caitlin Kindred
Oh, that's a nice way to look at that. I view that. Cool.

00:11:33 - Jenny GK
I have a friend who was born on December 21, and he says it was the shortest day of the year unless you ask my mom. So back to Yule. Yule is one of the oldest recorded winter holidays in all of history.

00:11:52 - Caitlin Kindred
Wow.

00:11:52 - Jenny GK
It comes from the rebirth of the sun, much like the soltice, honoring the sun, bringing it back. Come on. But Yule has also been called Christmas Tide or Yule Tide. And it was celebrated by putting a large oak tree in the fireplace. The tree would get cut down and then you slowly push it into the flames over the twelve days of Christmas. Oh, wow.

00:12:16 - Caitlin Kindred
How cool.

00:12:17 - Jenny GK
Now.

00:12:18 - Caitlin Kindred
Oh, wait. Eulog. That's the eulog.

00:12:20 - Jenny GK
So the Eulog tradition has actually changed over time because we don't have to use fires to keep us warm for twelve days leading up to Christmas. So now the modern tradition of a eulog is burning last year's Christmas tree. So if you have a fresh tree, you cut off the trunk and you save it. And then next Christmas or next Yule, you'll burn the eulog.

00:12:44 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah.

00:12:45 - Jenny GK
But this is, again, a very ancient holiday. It comes from pagan tradition. So there was an exchange of nature themed gifts making wreaths out of evergreen. Do you see a connection here?

00:13:02 - Caitlin Kindred
Sure do.

00:13:03 - Jenny GK
There's a history involving celebrating the birth of Jesus at the same time as other holidays. Yeah. So there you go.

00:13:12 - Caitlin Kindred
How you bring the pagans in. Right. First, I have to say this. Do you remember when we were kids and there was a commercial that was like, first of all, I'm thinking of the eulog. Like the dessert. Like, there's that rolled cake dessert. Yeah. Like a giant hostess roll thing. That's what I have in my head. Right. But now I can't stop picturing there was some commercial and I can't remember what the dessert was, but I always felt like it was like the height of sophistication where it was some cake cutter thing and they would cut this frozen ice cream fudge looking layered.

00:13:47 - Jenny GK
It started with a vanetta. Is that it?

00:13:50 - Caitlin Kindred
Something like that. But it was a commercial. And I just remember thinking, like, they would put it like in a, it looked like a champagne shallow glass, but.

00:13:59 - Jenny GK
It came in like a foil tin, like a Sarah Lee pound cake.

00:14:04 - Caitlin Kindred
Did it I thought it was in the freezer. I thought it was like a freezer.

00:14:06 - Jenny GK
No, it is from the freezer. It is from the Sarah Lee pound cake comes from the freezer.

00:14:10 - Caitlin Kindred
Oh, yeah. I didn't know. Just. I can't stop picturing, like, I am looking up the name or hostess thing.

00:14:18 - Jenny GK
Yeah, I am looking up the name.

00:14:19 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah. Okay, so while you do That, I will explain this one, and I'm probably going to. Am I saying this is it? Soyal? Okay.

00:14:26 - Jenny GK
It is, Vanessa.

00:14:27 - Caitlin Kindred
Oh, good job.

00:14:28 - Jenny GK
Okay, we'll put a picture of it.

00:14:29 - Caitlin Kindred
Glass in the past.

00:14:30 - Jenny GK
Yeah.

00:14:32 - Caitlin Kindred
If you're almost 40 or if you're counting down your 40 days of 40 like Jenny is, then you probably know what I'm talking about. And you're probably picturing the box. It was like a green box. It doesn't matter. Okay, so this one, soyal, is December 22. So the Zunai, or Zuni and Hopi, Native American tribes in the southern US, honor the winter solstice on Tuesday, December 22. Now, is Tuesday actually December 22 this year? I don't know. Is it? No, I don't think it is. No. Sorry. It's Friday, December. Okay.

00:15:02 - Jenny GK
So this is a chance for me to bring up that I put together this list. Years ago, I was teaching international holidays elective, which was so fun to teach. So I also don't have sources because I just gathered information from lots of different places and have kept this in my Google drive forever.

00:15:23 - Caitlin Kindred
I love it, but I'm calendar challenged today, so just take everything I say with a grain of salt. Anyway, this is real. So these tribes celebrate the winter solstice on December 22 with a ceremony to lure back the sun God, who is believed to have traveled away from the tribes during the winter. It also marks a new cycle of the wheel of the year, and it's traditionally viewed as a time for purification. And for the Hopi tribes in particular, it's a festival that lasts 16 days and includes prayers, a passing down of stories from elders, and concludes with the feast. And then at the feast, which is on December 22, tribal members dress up in masks and have costumes that represent the. I don't know how to say. Kachina spirits. Yep. Which are believed to support their community. And they perform dances, and children are given dolls that represent the Kachina spirits as gifts. This is a cool holiday I didn't know about, so thank you very much for teaching me, Jenny. Love it.

00:16:24 - Jenny GK
So I have another one that happens in the same time of year. DecembeR the 23rd is Human Light. Oh, human light. Is a humanist holiday that was first celebrated in 2001, which seems like last year, but it was actually more than 20 years ago. Stop it. And various organizations recognize this holiday, including the American Humanist Association. It's a secular holiday, and it's meant to just focus on positive, secular, human views, like, okay, reason, compassion, humanity, and hope. Some modern celebrations have a meal with your family or your group. Some use candles to symbolize reason, hope, and compassion. Groups today also celebrate human light by doing charity work.

00:17:17 - Caitlin Kindred
I love that. Yeah.

00:17:18 - Jenny GK
It's a secular, human positive holiday. In a time where there's a lot of faith based holidays, this is the.

00:17:25 - Caitlin Kindred
Exact opposite of Festivus. Festivus is also on December 23. It is.

00:17:30 - Jenny GK
Exactly. You can leave your airing of the grievances at Festivus and go and do some charity work in honor of human.

00:17:36 - Caitlin Kindred
Light, or you can be appalled by what charity work you just did and the circumstances of others and then go and complain about it at your festival. There you go. Either one works. It's fine. I choose to do the negative one first. That's just me. Okay. My next one is not Festivus. It's Christmas. So Christmas is one that is specifically tied to the Christian faith. But we have pointed out connections to other pagan traditions, and I have plenty.

00:18:04 - Jenny GK
Of friends where secular in nature and.

00:18:06 - Caitlin Kindred
Celebrate Christmas and celebrate Christmas. Yeah, that's pretty common. So it is the historical celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. I say historical celebration, not scientific, never mind weather. Yeah.

00:18:20 - Jenny GK
May or may not have happened on this day.

00:18:22 - Caitlin Kindred
Right. Or in the spring or summertime. Right? Yeah. Okay. No matter where you are, it's more than likely that Christmas traditions are widely different. They're different in different parts of the country, let alone all over the world. So everyone's Christmas celebration probably looks a little bit different. Americans often celebrate with a Christmas tree or visits to or from Santa and visions of snow.

00:18:49 - Jenny GK
Okay, so my favorite is how the Australians celebrate Christmas.

00:18:53 - Caitlin Kindred
Yes.

00:18:54 - Jenny GK
Because it's summer, so they'll go camping or go to the beach and have a barbecue.

00:19:00 - Caitlin Kindred
Yes. The episode of Bluey where they get in the pool. Right. I mean, come on. It's perfect. And they don't have trees. Right. They use a Christmas bush. Yes. It's so great.

00:19:10 - Jenny GK
I love it.

00:19:11 - Caitlin Kindred
I love it. In England, the Christmas traditions are really similar to those of us here in the United States. But they don't leave milk and cookies for Santa. They leave mince pies and brandy for Father Christmas.

00:19:23 - Jenny GK
We leave bacon and coffee for Santa at our house because we know he needs some protein and a little bit of caffeine.

00:19:28 - Caitlin Kindred
Don't you guys also leave a cigarette for what's his name?

00:19:32 - Jenny GK
We do not leave a cigarette, but I am kind of excited about this. Tell me more.

00:19:37 - Caitlin Kindred
Wait, I'm thinking of diehard. I thought you guys left a cigarette.

00:19:41 - Jenny GK
We don't, but we might start. We have already watched two diehards this season.

00:19:46 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay, wait. Pause just for a second, because I have to show you what I got my husband already for Christmas. Okay, hold on. Okay. I bought him an advent calendar.

00:19:56 - Jenny GK
Oh, my gosh. Is it the one with Hans Gruber falling down?

00:19:59 - Caitlin Kindred
We have that. It is the Hans Gruber falling off of Nakatomi Plaza. And you count it down by each day. Okay. It's so funny.

00:20:11 - Jenny GK
Brag about my parenting for just a minute. We have that because my daughter wanted it.

00:20:19 - Caitlin Kindred
Yes. That's so good. I love it. It's amazing. Gosh, that's amazing. Yeah. So I thought you guys left him a cigarette, but maybe you'd be better off leaving him, like, a headache. Some sort of Advil or something. Or shoe. You guys have dogs, too? You can't leave it out. Oh, yeah.

00:20:36 - Jenny GK
Shoes would be good, too. We do put out reindeer food, which is made of oats and glitter. The glitter reflects off the moonlight to let the reindeer know where to land. And the oats gives them something to eat.

00:20:51 - Caitlin Kindred
Smart. We used to leave out carrots. Like a treat.

00:20:55 - Jenny GK
Yeah, for Father Christmas or for St. Nicholas's donkey. Horse.

00:21:00 - Caitlin Kindred
Exactly.

00:21:01 - Jenny GK
Okay, keep going.

00:21:01 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay, so In Iceland, Reykjavik turns into winter wonderland. Because when is it not? Let's be clear. With its Christmas market turns into is.

00:21:12 - Jenny GK
All the time already.

00:21:15 - Caitlin Kindred
There's a Christmas market, and there are 13 Santas, known as the Yule Lads, which is amazing. And one arrives each night in the 13 days before Christmas and leaves small gifts in shoes that are left in window sills. Like, come on, this is adorable, and I love it. And. Yes, good one. Okay. All right, next up.

00:21:40 - Jenny GK
So the next holiday is Kwanza. And this was created in 1966 after the Watts riots in Los Angeles. It was started by a cultural organization called Us, and it was designed research the African First Fruits harvest.

00:22:02 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay, okay.

00:22:04 - Jenny GK
So starting with first fruits, the holiday of Kwanzaa started to mature, where there are different aspects of harvest celebrations, but also of African American experience. Okay, so the name Kwanzaa comes from a phrase in Swahili that means first fruits.

00:22:28 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay.

00:22:29 - Jenny GK
And I am going to try and pronounce it, but I do not speak Swahili, nor am I familiar with the pronunciation of Swahili. Words.

00:22:40 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay.

00:22:41 - Jenny GK
Matanda ya Kwanza should mean first fruits.

00:22:46 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay.

00:22:47 - Jenny GK
So each family celebrates Kwanzaa in their own ways, but a lot of celebrations include song and dances, African drums, storytelling, poetry, and a great meal. This is seven nights long, and every night a child lights one of the lights on the candles called the canara. And then one of the seven principles or values of African American culture is discussed. And then there's a feast on December 31.

00:23:18 - Caitlin Kindred
I love it. I knew that it was a relatively recent holiday, and I also knew that it's an African American holiday, which I think is really special, but I didn't know that it meant first fruit. That's really cool.

00:23:32 - Jenny GK
And again, it is secular in nature.

00:23:35 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah.

00:23:35 - Jenny GK
So there are a lot of families that celebrate Kwanzaa and also celebrate a faith based holiday in the same holiday season.

00:23:41 - Caitlin Kindred
I love that.

00:23:42 - Jenny GK
So it's not like I don't celebrate Christmas. I do celebrate Kwanzaa. You could do both.

00:23:45 - Caitlin Kindred
Right. Okay. Boxing Day. This is One that is probably on everyone's calendar, but we don't know what it means. Well, we don't know what it means. So Boxing Day is December 26, and it's only celebrated in a few countries, and it started in the United Kingdom during the Middle Ages. So traditionally, this is the day when the Alms box. The collection boxes for the poor. Like, alms for the. I was. That came from best in show. Yes. When he's like, what? Sheetsu is walking around going, oh, alms for the poor. I love that movie so much. It's perfect. Anyway, so the alms boxes were kept in churches and then opened up, and all of the money inside, or whatever it was put inside was distributed out to the people who needed it the most. Right. This still happens in some places, which I think is great. A lot of people have heard of the other origin of the holiday, which is when servants were traditionally given the day off to celebrate Christmas with their families, whether or not they were given a box of items by their employers. We have employers, slave owners, whatever you want to call them, who knows? But that's not necessarily true. It's just that they were supposed to be given the day off. So it's now a public holiday in the UK, in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and other countries. And I will tell you that it shuts down over there. It shuts down. Like, people are not doing things that day. There are soccer matches and horse races and things that take place on Boxing Day. The Irish refer to the holiday as St. Stephen's Day, and they have their own tradition called Hunting the Wren, in which boys take a fake wren and attach it to a pole and then parade it through town. I can't tell you what that means.

00:25:40 - Jenny GK
I don't know what the history of that is, but it sounds like something.

00:25:43 - Caitlin Kindred
Fun to investigate, right? Yeah, I think that's really cool. And this was also a really fun one. In the Bahamas, the Bahamians celebrate Boxing Day with a street parade and a festival called Junkanoo, which I'm pretty sure I said wrong, but I hope it's pronounced that way, because it's really fun.

00:26:02 - Jenny GK
That is fun. All right, next on December 31 is Omisoka, and this is New Year's Eve, and it is the second most important day in the Japanese tradition.

00:26:15 - Caitlin Kindred
Oh.

00:26:16 - Jenny GK
It's the final day of the old year and the Eve of New Year's Day, which is the most important day in the Japanese tradition.

00:26:23 - Caitlin Kindred
I love it.

00:26:24 - Jenny GK
Families gather on Omisoka for one last time in the old year, and they have a bowl of noodles, either soba or udon noodles. And the idea is long noodle, long life, long noodles to cross from one year to another.

00:26:45 - Caitlin Kindred
I love it.

00:26:47 - Jenny GK
So at midnight, a lot of people like to visit shrines or temples at the temple. A lot of times you can get this amazake, which is a rice drink, and budhist. Temples ring bells, and they ring one time for each of the 108 earthly desires that could cause human suffering.

00:27:11 - Caitlin Kindred
Wow, that's a really. It seems very honoring and very sobering.

00:27:23 - Jenny GK
Yeah. To close out the old year so that next year long noodle life.

00:27:28 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah, that's really interesting. I am thinking about right now of hogmony, which is in Scotland, and it's about Vikings. And New Year's Eve is a huge celebration in Scotland. And you can walk to the castle in Edinburgh. It's a cool one, but that's not the one that I'm talking about next. That's just where my brain went. So I'm going to talk about the next one. New Year's Day. Okay, so New Year's Day is celebrated by cultures all around the world because we're celebrating the change of the calendar to the new Year. Right. In Spain, you eat twelve grapes, one for each stroke of the clock at midnight on New Year's Eve. And each grape represents luck for one month of the coming year. In Colombia, people will carry empty suitcases around the block in the hopes of a travel field. New Year, which is pretty cool. In the Philippines, you will find round shapes all over the place on New Year's Eve as representative of coins to symbolize prosperity in the coming year. And many families will also have piles of fruit on their dining tables. And some eat exactly twelve round fruits like grapes. I don't know how you're going to eat twelve oranges at midnight, but unless you're Joey Chestnut. Ew. That's so much acid in your stomach. I feel like you get sick and not the point. And a lot of them will. And a lot of them will wear polka dots because they're round. I love it. For good luck.

00:29:08 - Jenny GK
What do you do for New Year's?

00:29:11 - Caitlin Kindred
Typically I stay in my bed. I don't really do like a big thing because my husband doesn't. He's not really like a, oh, New Year's. Let's go celebrate. It's not like a big to, I used to watch the wall drop and all that. I will say, I've been in New York on New Year's Eve and it is a complete, yeah, it's, it's like deserted in some places that are completely. Yeah, exactly. Because everyone's in one spot. So it's just wild. But I've become a very, just kind of take it easy on New Year's and just hope for the coming year. We do eat black eyed peas. Oh, you a. Yeah. And I don't really like them. I don't either, but I'll have like a mouthful. Okay. And that's it.

00:29:59 - Jenny GK
We drink Sylvion Blanc because we went to New Zealand over New Year's many years ago and visited the wine country. And during our tour, our tour guide told us that his favorite trilogy of all time is, wait for it. The mighty Ducks.

00:30:16 - Caitlin Kindred
Yes.

00:30:17 - Jenny GK
So we watch the Mighty Ducks every.

00:30:18 - Caitlin Kindred
Year on New Year's Eve.

00:30:19 - Jenny GK
I love it.

00:30:20 - Caitlin Kindred
That's so fun. We have stuff like that that we watch every year for other holidays, but we don't do one for New Year's Eve.

00:30:27 - Jenny GK
I can't imagine that there's a lot of families out there that have a New Year's Eve movie tradition. That is something other than like when Harry met Sally. Like a New Year's Eve movie. It's definitely not the Mighty Ducks.

00:30:38 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay. Yeah. No.

00:30:39 - Jenny GK
So moving on. On January 6 is Three Kings Day or Epiphany. This is the holiday that is twelve Days of Christmas. It took twelve days for the wise Men, the Three Kings following the star. It took them until January 6 to arrive and meet the baby Jesus and give him gifts. So Epiphany is or three kings say this is when children actually get their Christmas presents.

00:31:07 - Caitlin Kindred
It makes sense. Like, if they're there to give presents to the baby, it makes sense to give your. Yeah, I love that. Okay.

00:31:13 - Jenny GK
In France and in cultures that have been occupied by France, a king cake is baked and you'll hide a coin, a jewel or a tiny baby inside. The Mexican king cake is Rosca de Reyes. But it is to represent that the Holy family had to hide from King Herod.

00:31:37 - Caitlin Kindred
Right. You're hiding a baby. That's the whole point. Yeah. Oh, that's really interesting. Okay, one more. One more. And I'm probably going to say it wrong, I think. But is it Lori?

00:31:48 - Jenny GK
I think that's how you say it.

00:31:49 - Caitlin Kindred
Lori. Lori. L-O-H-R-I. Lori. And this is on January 13. So this is currently about bonfire, fancy food, food baskets, dancing. It's all about paying gratitude to the Almighty and dancing to the beats of the dole, which is the drum, and you enjoy a large, tasty treat feast. Yes, it's a festival that belongs to the region of Punjab and mostly celebrated in the northern part of India. On this day, foods like till, which are black sesame seeds, peanuts and popcorn, are fed to the fire as part of the harvest ritual. And it's believed that offering these food items to the God of fire on this day helps take away all the negativity from life and brings in prosperity. Oh, I love it here. The bonfire symbolizes the fire god. And then after you offer the food to the Almighty, people seek blessings and prosperity and happiness in return for all of the things that they've offered to the God. Cool.

00:32:55 - Jenny GK
So again, when someone offers you happy holidays as a greeting, it's because there are so many during this time.

00:33:03 - Caitlin Kindred
Totally.

00:33:04 - Jenny GK
And you may be someone who celebrates many of them or none.

00:33:08 - Caitlin Kindred
Right.

00:33:08 - Jenny GK
But you can always respond in kind.

00:33:10 - Caitlin Kindred
I love it.

00:33:11 - Jenny GK
All right, let's take a break.

00:33:11 - Caitlin Kindred
You should. Okay, we're back. Yes.

00:33:16 - Jenny GK
It's time to celebrate what we are obsessed with. And I will go.

00:33:22 - Caitlin Kindred
Way to go. Good connection.

00:33:24 - Jenny GK
Okay. In true ADHD fashion, there is this idea of follow the dopamine, right?

00:33:30 - Caitlin Kindred
Yes.

00:33:30 - Jenny GK
Whatever your little fixation is, do it in a way that doesn't hurt anyone or get in the way of the rest of your lIfe.

00:33:37 - Caitlin Kindred
Absolutely.

00:33:37 - Jenny GK
But if it makes you feel good, keep going.

00:33:40 - Caitlin Kindred
But also in the ADHD world, sometimes you feel the need to tell everyone about it all the time. So just be aware, if you've talked about it more than once or twice, you're probably getting on the non ADHD people's nerves. Yes. Just putting it out there.

00:33:54 - Jenny GK
Okay. My obsession right now is videos on YouTube about the food on Disney Cruises.

00:34:02 - Caitlin Kindred
Stop it. This is one of those ones you want to keep to yourself.

00:34:07 - Jenny GK
I'm obsessed. And it's not just videos about cruises or videos about Disney Cruises.

00:34:13 - Caitlin Kindred
Well, thank goodness.

00:34:13 - Jenny GK
Specifically the food on Disney Cruises. I know the names of all the restaurants on all the ships.

00:34:20 - Caitlin Kindred
This is a not. This is not. No, no.

00:34:25 - Jenny GK
But I am loving it right now. I am loving, you know, a week from now, I'll be over it, but I can't stop watching them.

00:34:33 - Caitlin Kindred
Okay, so this is why you and I are friends, because I also have an ADHD obsession. This is not why we are friends, but this is something that we can connect over. Because mine right now is twinkle fairy lights all over my house because it's Christmas time and they have to be everywhere, and because I'm a psycho who doesn't want to have to go in and flip the switch all the time. All of them have a remote. She's showing the remote because it's sitting on my desk, because that way I can turn off and on the little lights that are next to my desk. Love it. So what I did was I took vases that I have around the house, and I filled them with kind of, like. They're like glittery ornaments, but they're not expensive. They're just, like, plastic. And then I put the twinkle little fairy lights inside the vase with the ornaments, and I put those around my house, and it looks cute, but then I have a remote to turn them on and off, and it's Christmassy. That's my obsession. And I've gone through so many batteries.

00:35:37 - Jenny GK
I think last year, I had an obsession with my gingerbread Christmas house, so it's totally fine. Yeah.

00:35:43 - Caitlin Kindred
Our house looks like gingerbread Christmas house again.

00:35:45 - Jenny GK
I love the white lights around the edge of the eAves.

00:35:49 - Caitlin Kindred
It's just my favorite. Last year, mine was the home Alone Lego house.

00:35:52 - Jenny GK
Oh, yes. That's right.

00:35:53 - Caitlin Kindred
This year, the other one is my Peanuts Christmas puzzle. That's it. Okay. What's your gem?

00:36:02 - Jenny GK
Okay, this is not of this week. It is a gem of another week, but it deserves to be said on the air. My family got together for Thanksgiving, and it's the first time that all of us have really been together in a while. My brother and his wife just had a new baby. My sister and her husband just had a new baby. So there's a lot of joy and excitement, but also, like, a lot of craziness that makes it hard for us to all get together at the same time.

00:36:32 - Caitlin Kindred
Sure.

00:36:33 - Jenny GK
But we're all there together, and we are talking about toys and how different our lives are now than they were just a few years ago when we did not have children.

00:36:47 - Caitlin Kindred
Yeah.

00:36:47 - Jenny GK
And my brother says, do you know what I learned this week? Kinetic sand is not magnetic sand.

00:36:59 - Caitlin Kindred
The things you don't know when you don't have kids.

00:37:02 - Jenny GK
He was like, I saw stick together.

00:37:04 - Caitlin Kindred
I just thought it was magnets. Oh, bless you. Oh, you sweet thing. No, it's not.

00:37:12 - Jenny GK
Welcome to parenthood. Not to mention, you're on your second kid. You should know.

00:37:17 - Caitlin Kindred
What kid? You should have known better. That's really funny. Oh, man. Well, my gem is also from a different week.

00:37:26 - Jenny GK
She's trying to live in the future, guys. She's really working hard at it.

00:37:29 - Caitlin Kindred
Calendar is hard. Okay, so here's what happened. You know, I go for my early morning walks, and I see all kinds of random stuff, including, like, doll's heads.

00:37:38 - Jenny GK
Rolling across the street.

00:37:39 - Caitlin Kindred
Doll heads rolling across the street. And that I picked up it because I don't know what I thought it was, but whatever, it was stupid. So this particular time, I'm out. I have deer in my neighborhood, but they're out more than normal right now because it's running season, so that you have babies in the spring. It's running season right now, and usually I'll see lots of doughs out and young deer. But because it's running season, the Bucks are out, too. And as we know, the Bucks are the ones that have antlers. And what hilariously happened or cracked me up the other day and then also made me feel bad for laughing until I checked to make sure everything was fine. Was one of the bucks must have gotten caught in a ghost hanging from a tree or something, because I just hear all of a sudden, this galloping noise. And then it looked like the headless Horseman. I was like, what is happening? But I knew it was a deer because it smelled like there's a smell that the bucks have during running season. And I was like, okay, so there's a deer. I know it's not the headless Horseman, so I'm probably fine, but also, that's like a sheet on that thing's head. And then I think I spooked it. And so it ran across the street. And then as it kind of settles down, I don't know how long it had been stuck on this deer's head, but I kind of watched, and I was like, if it's not okay, I'm sure it'll come off. And I really can't be the person who goes over. But, yeah, you don't want to do that. But also, it's got to come off at some point, right? And it starts rubbing on a tree, and it started to halfway come off, so I knew we were getting to the good stuff, and it was going to be all right after that. But in the meantime, I'm like, how long has this ghost been on this deer's head? It's november. We were a ride around Thanksgiving. This poor baby. Either they left their Halloween decorations out for a long time, or this poor thing had it on its head for. I'm choosing to believe the form. Let us believe that someone just hadn't.

00:39:53 - Jenny GK
Taken down Halloween yet.

00:39:55 - Caitlin Kindred
Right when I really was, like, the headless Horseman. That's what it looks like. It was a very spooky, but I knew that's what that was. So I'm kind of telling myself, like, you know, that's not what that is, but what the heck is happening, right? But it was a deer caught in a ghost. That's all. No big deal. Totally normal ghost deer, right?

00:40:22 - Jenny GK
All right, well, if you haven't done so recently, feel free to engage with one of our posts. As you learned last week, anytime you comment on something, the algorithm likes it and shows it to more people, so feel free to do so. Hit those five stars and tell all your friends it could be your Christmas or Omasaki or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Yule gift to us.

00:40:49 - Caitlin Kindred
And.

00:40:50 - Jenny GK
And, of course, make good choices and.

00:40:53 - Caitlin Kindred
Leave some cigarettes and shoes out for John McClain. Okay, bye.