Every year I get a little older and I always long for the days of yore. Sitting around a log fire and waiting for grandmother to pull the cookies from the oven. But a few years ago I realized, with the passing of my grandmother that many of the old time traditions have been lost or forgotten, or just passed up for shopping and wrapping. And while I do love to shop (locally) and wrap (handmade gifts) I also love the idea of participating in something that my grandmother participated in when she was my age, something that was passed down orally and looked forward to, like blowing out birthday candles.
I can’t make cookies like grandma did, but I can create with the best of them, so here are a few things I’ve been doing with my family over the past few years. Feel free to adopt these or even add to them. And I’d love to see pics of your family traditions as well. It’s important for me to point out here that for my family the emphasis with these traditions is on activity, exploration, and a connectedness with nature, It’s about getting off the couch, turning off the television and breathing in those brisk wintry winds that fill the blood with exuberance and new life. This year, find your own mountaintop, your own beach trail, make your own wishing boat, and start a tradition.
- Making Gluhvine (mulled wine)- Here’s a tradition I borrowed from Germany: warm wine with cinnamon and oranges during a snowy day….nuff said.
Enjoyed mulled wine outside
- Gathering grapevines to make holiday wreaths. If you live near the woods, chances are you have wild grapevines. If not, try to hunt down some other things, like bittersweet or Indian currant.
Gathering grapevines
Winter trek
- Eating locally gathered food.
Making pecan pie in Georgia on a recent trip
- Make a wishing boat. This is something that we used to do. Make a boat out of a pumpkin hull or a dried gourd (it floats and is biodegradable) , then everyone makes a wish and writes their initial on a pumpkin seed, placing the seed in the gourd. then you put it on the river or creek or in the ocean and watch it float away, carrying your wish away to be planted and come true.
Dried Gourd by redredday
- Making handmade gifts at home.
Garden Totems (2005)
great post. love these ideas. fun, simple & thoughtful! happy holidays!