A Road Less Travelled

Today is St. Lucia’s Day. There are many varied and imaginative tales of who St. Lucia was and what she did, but the one thing we do know is that she was a Christian young woman who fed the poor and got martyred for it. It seems reasonable enough to me to celebrate this life. And since we have Swedish roots (you’d really know it to look at me) St. Lucia’s Day is a holiday we’ve celebrated for as long as I can remember.

The traditional familial celebration is that the eldest daughter in the home wakes up early and serves her family a breakfast of really yummy buns called St. Lucia buns and coffee. Seth and Crystal added a nifty tradition to that where we make a boatload of buns and serve everyone at Seth’s work. Last year we suffered from the dreaded Hair Catastrophe and we had to forgo giving out buns. But this year we did not cut the children’s hair right before we shaped the buns and therefore we did not coat them in a fine layer of tiny hairs. Instead we made some of the best buns I’ve ever had. It was a joy to walk around with Crystal and the children handing out these buns. We only lost one to the floor, but we had several volunteers among the St. Lucia entourage to eat it so nothing was wasted. The people at Seth’s work know St. Lucia’s Day as Special Bread Day and are always excited when it comes. Somebody said that the Christmas season had officially started now because it was Special Bread Day. I wholeheartedly agree.

Happy St. Lucia’s Day, everyone! Or, if you prefer, Happy Special Bread Day!