Twelve Drummers Drumming and the Unwreathing of Arlington

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On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me:

Twelve Drummers Drumming
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

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The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed. It is indeed the introduction to the Epiphany of Our Lord:

The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the oldest Christian feasts, though, throughout the centuries, it has celebrated a variety of things. Epiphany comes from a Greek verb meaning, "to reveal," and all of the various events celebrated by the Feast of the Epiphany are revelations of Christ to man.

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Christmas Day is the first of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Christians view the period as the amount of time it took the three magi, or wise men, to travel to Bethlehem for the Epiphany, the revelation of Jesus Christ as the savior and the son of God ("epiphany" is from the Greek word for "revelation").

While there's a consensus on what Christmas commemorates, what the Epiphany honors vary between churches and cultures. Some churches believe it's the day of Christ's baptism, while others celebrate it as the day the three magi visited Jesus with gifts.

But there are also differences in when the twelve days are celebrated. Western churches, for example, celebrate Christmas on December 25th, the Epiphany on January 6th, and the period in-between as the 12 days and nights of Christmas. Other cultures, however, have different customs.

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Although most in the Eastern Orthodox Church now adhere to the Western calendar, those in the Greek Orthodox Church still use a different religious calendar, celebrating Christmas on Jan. 7, and the Epiphany on Jan. 19. Some Latin-American cultures celebrate the Epiphany as Three Kings Day, giving gifts on Jan. 6 instead of Christmas. Other cultures will give one gift per day from Christmas to the Epiphany. This tradition has never really caught on in America, where the celebration of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is most common.

In 1923 a revised version of the Julian calendar was introduced bringing Christmas Day, cutting off the 13-day difference in that the Julian had from the Gregorian calendar. There were only orthodox Christian countries that adopted it; Romania Greece and Cyprus. Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, and Montenegro continue to celebrate Christmas on January 7.

The Twelfth Night often celebrated on the night of Jan. 5, is considered the end of the Christmas season, before the Epiphany the following day. The Twelfth Night was a time for feasting in England (partly inspired by Shakespeare's play of the same name) in centuries past. Some cultures, like the French and Spanish, celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany with a king's cake, a coffee cake with purple, green and yellow icing to commemorate the visit by the Magi to the Christ child. In western cultures, the King's Cake is associated with Mardi Gras and the season of Carnival. Churches also vary in their celebration of the Epiphany; some Protestant churches celebrate it for an entire season, lasting until the season of Lent, while many Catholics celebrate it as a single day. I would like to thank snopes.com and here for more on the Orthodox Christmas. For those who are not familiar with it, enjoy! And for those celebrating Christmas this week, Merry Christmas to you!

And... we are done.

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"Wreaths Out" Annual Event to be held at Arlington National Cemetery January 11, 2020. The removal of the wreaths on the graves of veterans is just as important as laying on upon it. It will be a huge honor to be part of this next weekend. For anyone in the Washington, DC area, the event begins at 8 am, but you may want to arrive earlier. There were over 35,000 out there laying the wreaths this year. I am humbled by the sheer amount of patriotism and love of country some days. Bless you. All of you. As an aside, if your area has a National Cemetery where your veterans are buried, they will have a similar unwreathing. Call the specific cemetery for information on it. For the latest information on Wreaths Out, visit www.arlingtoncemetery.mil. You can read all about this event here

Important Access and Safety Information for Volunteers

Due to current conditions, Arlington National Cemetery is increasing its security posture and is implementing 100% ID checks at all entrances.


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As always, there must be a flower. This picture is dedicated to #SundayPurple #ColorChallenge by @Kalemandra who colors my world every single day.


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Did you know I dreamed of you tonight while lying unaware? The memory is just a moment of time, yet the passion is magnified. Again. Do you know of this feeling, deep inside my soul? Where the warmth of your words pass on a sweet afterglow?

And then.

The lingering touch, upon my face, tracing the line with gentle little kisses, my soul will never be the same. You left me wanting to finish the dream, giving me calm before you can leave. My heart can’t take it. Have I told you how your words caress me as whole? How the very thought of you brings me right down to my knees?

I can feel your hand over mine at night. As we sit and whisper in our world of delight. Yes. Pure heaven I say. I’m not sure I can be any clearer, you’ve robbed me of my soul. Yet, I know that in reality, I give it freely to you. In whole. All of me. Know that you are loved, because therein lies the truth. It keeps my heart a kindle, its warmth consumed as whole.

Love, Denise


And just like that, this post is over. From beginning to end, I'll do it again, probably tomorrow. Have an amazing day! Do something fabulous!




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Thank you for visiting my post 💖 Because of you, I come back to post, again and again, I am encouraged by you, for the time you take to visit, comment or even upvote. For all of these reasons, I am eternally grateful. Don't ever forget what a wonderful world we live in, people. Let's hold hands around the globe and make this earth really spin. Some days, it is not as easy to see, how wonderful it really is. Kindness counts. Wherever you go, whatever you do.


they set my aunts house on fire
i cried the way women on tv do
folding at the middle
like a five pound note.
i called the boy who use to love me
tried to ‘okay’ my voice
i said hello
he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?

i’ve been praying,
and these are what my prayers look like;
dear god
i come from two countries
one is thirsty
the other is on fire
both need water.

later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered,
"where does it hurt?"
it answered,

"everywhere"
"everywhere"
"everywhere"

warsan shire



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54 comments
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Bang, I did it again... I just resteemed your post!
Week 17 of my contest just started...you can now check the winners of the previous week!
Pixresteemer is also listed as promoter on The Steemians Directory
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Hi @dswigle, a free $trendotoken from the TULIP Mania Game!
Round 3 will start soon and full details will follow. Thanks for playing!

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I can't help but wonder why JOE T. MORRIS has no wreath on his grave, on the right-side of the photo? He has a cross in a circle, not a mark of a different religion, so one has to wonder... 🤔

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My guess would be the photographer was laying wreaths and his was to be done next perhaps.

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Old-guy-photos is right. The picture was being taken I mean before the wreaths were finished being laid. I had to go back and get more, so it made sense to take some pictures empty-handed. I probably should have dropped it differently but I didn't notice or if I did notice it didn't make a big enough impact on me. Thank you for pointing that out to me and it helps me be more aware of my surroundings when I am trying to take a photo. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and say hello and leaving your words behind.

!tip

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Oh, duh! I should have thought of that, myself!
Thanks to you and @old-guy-photos for explaining!

🤦‍♀️

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Oh, the Old Guy @old-guy-photos is smart like that. One of the reasons we keep him around. Have a great night! 💖

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I am thrilled to see a bit of prose again. For my money, no one does it better. You sure can paint well with words. I am always amazed.

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Well you know, I like to keep you happy! It's not that I have avoided doing it, but rather it hasn't been a place for most of it. Now, as we going down from the Christmas season oh, there seems to be more open space to leave a few words. I thank you for supporting me always!

Have a beautiful Sunday!

!tip

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Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
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Such an interesting series Lady Denise and the differences between the dates of the festivals by other nations so well describe the differences between us as human beings. One would ask, why not one date for everybody?
But here we can see that we are not everybody Lol
Blessings and congrats on a great series!

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Well, I started it it's more of a tongue in cheek and if I do. Partridge in the pear tree but I started looking up the history and decided that I would be able to carry a few of them with some of the photos I took. I just have a hard time with the maids-a-milking. I guess by the time that oil had changed to to one calendar, we weren't as globetrotting as we are today. Took time to arrange things send people were happy having celebrated Christmas January 7th for centuries. I am not sure I would want to change my traditions just because the rest of the world thought I should. There are actually quite a few that hold to the Julian calendar. I'm good with that and I am sure that there are some of them let's celebrate both holidays. Just as the Greek Orthodox here in the states used to celebrate several holidays or a lot of Jewish people in the United States celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. We have such a intermingling of religions then one day I hope to be 1. I hope you and yours have a beautiful Sunday! I want to thank you for stopping by saying hello and leaving your words behind.

!tip .20

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Well you have certainly weaved the Wigle magic to design the posts and an outstanding job was done.
Between you and I the date is not important methinks, as no one knows the actual birth date of the Christ. Some scholars even think that it was in June Lol.
Nothing wrong with sticking to the Julien calendar and to each his own.
All that I know is that you acquitted yourself very well with this task.
Congrats once again.
Blessings!

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Muy lindos relatos amiga,muy especiales fotografias,mucho cariño para usted ,gracias por su ayuda y que pase un buen Domingo,saludos madre,aqui con un virus de fiebre,dolor de cabeza y de huesos y lo mas triste sin medicamentos,el año empezo muy mal ya que el dolar esta a 75.000bs y la comida duplico en precio,pero estoy tratando de sostenerme,un abrazo

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It's always bittersweet to reach the end of the Christmas season like this. The decorations, lights, and general happiness we have over the entire month of December is always so much fun, but if it lasted year round, then it just would't be special anymore. So we hold our memories close to us and know that it will come around again, with pipers, drummers, and all those partridges.

!tip

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MiThat's true and I actually think that way also, but there's something inside me that wants to hold on to it just a little bit longer. This year in particular was shortened by the Thanksgiving being so late. But, for the most part it has been a most joyous season filled with family, friends and a few unexpected events that had good endings.

Even though I believe the Christmas has a time and place, I cannot resist coming into goes all year Christmas Shops in spending any moment or three in the Delight of the winter wonderland. There's just something so warm and wonderful that time of year PA. People seemed Kinder warmer and more giving. Wish I really had a hard time understanding why we can't be this way all year?

I am finding that the older I get, the easier it is to Explorer why the unpleasant people are having such a hard time in life. Sometimes we just don't realize their circumstances and a little more understanding towards them goes a long way. Okay I'll get off my soapbox now and I just want to thank you for taking the time to stop in and say hello and leave your words behind. Have a beautiful Sunday!

!tip .20

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Nice twelfth day of Christmas and it is really true love to you for all.

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Thank you very much for taking the time to you visit my post I wish you a most wonderful Sunday.

!tip

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(Edited)

Where I spent my growing up years, most of the Catholic churches were what everyone called "Russian Catholic" churches. They observed the January Christmas, which everyone called "Russian Christmas." :)

I've been to Tarpon Springs Florida, a very scenic Greek town known for its sponge divers. For the Epiphany they have boys 13 years old, (not sure on the age but they're pretty young), I believe, that dive after a cross that a priest throws into the water. The one who retrieves it gets some kind of honor. I guess they'll be doing that tomorrow Tuesday.

For me, the time between last Christmas and this one felt like weeks apart - not months. I expect that time span will get even shorter this year! ;)

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We called it both Russian and Greek Christmas. Although in Greece they changed it, some of the NorthEastern Orthodox Churches still adhered to the old Greek ways. Ha.

I LOVE Tarpon Springs and went there for the first time with my family in 1985 - which, I was totally smitten with the sponge docks! At the time, they still had the sponge divers. It was a magical place, another world from my New England roots. I have been since and although it is more commercial than it ever was, it still is a place that is fun to go to.

I did know they did the cross toss, but, have never been fortunate enough to be there to witness it. You were right the first time. It is on Monday and I do wish I was going. I would love to be there in the moment!

My mother told me that the older I get, the faster time goes. As opposed to when we were waiting to be 10, then 13, the magic birthday and then 16! Oh, to drive... then 18 and finally 21. When you went over 30, I wondered what all the fuss was about. :)

But, yes! If you intend on aging well, it will continue to spiral! :) Thanks for stopping by and leaving your words. I pulled this off the internet as I found it interesting and thought you might too. Thanks for reminding me about Tarpon Springs. It is a wonderful little place!

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/tarpon-springs-celebrates-epiphany-prime-minister-greece-special-guest

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Lots of info on today's Epiphany at Tarpon Springs in that informative article. I see I was off by a few years on the ages of the young men diving. :) Pretty special day in Tarpon Springs, to have the PM of Greece attending. Then, as I expected, he's off to DC tomorrow to meet with the POTUS.

I love Tarpon also; there's no better place to get great Greek food, that's for sure! I've been there in the summer, off-season for most tourists, and the town is very friendly and one of the most accommodating towns I've ever been to in my life.

I didn't mind age 30, but 40 was the point I had decided meant I was officially getting old, so I fought it - continuing to play sports and working out to stave off the inevitable time when I couldn't. Though I had to give up tennis a few years ago, I still work out and can still play some sports, so I'm happy I haven't gone completely over the hill yet. LOL

I enjoy life as I always have. I don't really find that time moving faster is having an undesirable effect on me; I see it as it's just getting easier to notice it moving by more quickly. Even the increasing swiftness of time has its benefits if you know where to look. Have a great Epiphany day!

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Thank you so much for the mention in the #Hit-Parade @Arcange! You always make my day when I see a notification from you telling me that I am on the list! So thank you for making my day!

As an aside, I want to thank you for all the work you do to make Steemit a better place.

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Many reasons certain days were linked from old to new, celebrations from faith to faith, old pagan beliefs, seasonal change have come down the years hence many spend time enjoying months of December/January in cheer.

No matter what one celebrates it is a time of year when most set aside differences and enjoy life, which is itself is a wonderful thing.

Thanks for 12 days fun insight, enjoyed your personal touch at the end in prose, yes the years tend to fly so making each one count all the more important.

Happy New Year Denise.

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