But Yule (or Jul in Norwegian, the pronunciation is the same) is a pre-Christian concept. Jul is the period of celebration that the Germanic peoples held when the sun began to return north...having reached the furthest place away...but it was a somewhat unbounded period. A Danish Jule song goes: "Now we have Jul again...Jul goes until Easter." But the second verse states: "Not true. First comes the fast." (meaning Lent). So there is this ethic ambivalence. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Church (ruled from Rome by the Pope) tried to change the name of the holiday from Jul to "Kristmaas" or something like that. But it never took.
So Jul is an extended season of being with family and friends...it goes on and on as long as the relationships last. People come, people go, people remain. Our cousin, Sally, came for a few days before joining her daughter Erica's fiance's family in Denver. Sally lightens our life.
We held a few parties...our friends from the Key of Joy (Mason and Lauren) did their jazz for an early audience. Then the DJ arrived and a Latin Dance Party emerged and took over space. Dancers formed a circle...then took turns letting their stuff show in the middle. And (what was his name?) in his turn, he came to the center, estimated the radius of the encircling dancers, jumped in the air, and did a complete back flip. Twice. No picture. It was that kind of party.
But the season is also the time to go to the mountains, to find snow to play in, to watch that incredible interplay of snow and sun that form Colorado's winter. So there is celebration out of doors also...I mean, after all, it is the sun that is returning north. It takes a while to get back. And a good part of that while is Jul. Enjoy.
