2020 Life Logs, Day 354: Welcome, Yule—Revels 2020
Date: Sunday, December 20, 2020
Weather: Overcast, Rain Late: High 42, Low 34 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Winter solstice officially arrives in the Northern Hemisphere at 5:02 am tomorrow morning, so the official winter season begins then. But because of the early arrival tomorrow, the Goldstones and I celebrated solstice tonight, as did Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco in Puerto Rico. Jo and I texted during the evening, sharing rituals and photos. Jo made a spiral candle holder with dough to represent the returning of light and they had a fire outside. We knew the weather here was going to be wet and miserable, so Heather fashioned a fire bowl from the plant pot I bought for her yesterday, filling it with rocks from the boys’ collection she found in the basement, to replace the traditional outside fire. Some of the rocks were ‘happy rocks’ the grandkids made for Mark’s memorial which made it all the more special. They used a bowl of the gel fuel used for the fondue pot. The fire was lit and then we watched Revels. Of course, due to Covid, there was not a live performance this year, but Heather purchased an event ticket and we watched it on the TV via an HDMI cable from her computer. It was an artfully assembled compilation of video from Revels through the years. I think I was first introduced to Revels when Mark and I attended with Heather and Jed in 2004, along with Justin and Jed’s brother Ben. Revels is a performance of solstice traditions portrayed through music, dance, and storytelling of solstice traditions from around the world. In 1957, the first Christmas Revels was performed in New York City. It got positive press, but it didn’t really catch on until it was revived in 1971 in Cambridge. By 1975, it had caught on and now there are Revels performances all around the country. Each year the focus is on a different country to region. The last time I attended in 2017 the focus was on Venice during the Renaissance where the people were preparing for eve of Christmas ‘Feast of Seven Fishes’. That year we used that theme for our Christmas Eve dinner and plan to do so again this year.
The first time Mark and I went to Revels with all of the Goldpebbles was in 2013. That year the focus was on a specific part of Spain, Galicia, and a particular road, the Camino de Composteia. Here’s what I wrote in my log that night. “But the best show was watching Sam, Jonah, and Oliver. Sam will be seven in a month, Jonah is four and half, and Ollie will be two in three months. Each boy has a very distinct personality and it was fascinating to watch how they reacted to the music. . . We were in the front row of the balcony and therefore had a wooden railing in front of us. The big boys could stand and Ollie sat on Heather’s knees resting his hands on the railing. He was totally mesmerized and sat absolutely still except for his little chubby fingers. He would sometimes tap them to keep time with the music and when the adults in the audience clapped, he clapped. His eyes never wondered from the stage. Jonah has music in his bones and as he listened tonight his entire body would keep beat with the music. Even his fingers moved on the wooden railing as if he were playing the piano. But again, his eyes never wondered. To him everything that was happening on stage was real, not make-believe. Sam is old enough to know that what he is watching is a play, not real. Yet he is fascinated. He doesn’t move to the music like Jonah, although he really enjoys it. He watches much more like an adult. He’s growing up so fast. It was truly magic to watch the boys in action tonight. What a wonderful holiday gift.” Now those boys are almost fourteen, eleven, and eight. They watched intently, except for a few bursts of energy. One of the highlights tonight was having Yo-Yo Ma play Dona Nobis Pacem which means “Give (or grant) us peace”. Also, having chocolate fondue during the intermission was a highlight. As always, the program ended with the Sussex Mummers’ Carol from Horsham, Sussex in England. The last verse says, “God bless your house, your children to, your cattle and your store; the Lord increase you day by day, and send you more and more, and send you more and more.” Welcome, Yule!
