Boxing Day 2015

Boxing Day, December 26th, is a national holiday in many British Commonwealth countries. It's not celebrated very much in the USA although my sister, Lin, celebrates it in fine fashion visiting or hosting friends. The tradition stems from “Christmas boxes” or presents given to servants the day after Christmas (because, of course, they had to work on Christmas Day). Many servants also had the day after Christmas off to spend time with their own families.

Boxing Day allows an extension of the Christmas holiday and some recovery time before the New Year's celebrations. With Christmas on a Friday this year, everyone gets a long, long Christmas weekend. Time to get away on a holiday or spend more time with friends and family. If you're in the UK, perhaps you might go on a fox hunt. Here, sports and after- Christmas-sales shopping seem to be high on the activities list.

It's also the start of the Sydney-Hobart race. A few years ago, we were at Sydney Heads on a friend's boat as the race participants flew past on their way to Hobart. The following year, we were in Hobart to watch the racers arrive. This year, we'll have to be content to see the results on the Internet.

As for us, we'll be busy entertaining more family and friends at Lin's house. The festivities are never-ending. We'll cook some more, eat some more and drink some more and then contemplate our plans for New Year's Eve … and beyond.

Happy Christmas Day!

It's been a wonderful year for Nine of Cups and crew. We know we're blessed with good fortune. We've seen so much, experienced so much, made lots of new friends, reconnected with old friends, and we're happily surrounded by family for the holiday.

We wish you all the merriest of Christmases and a happy, healthy, prosperous 2016 filled with all the magic that life can hold.

As for Nine of Cups, who knows where she'll sail in 2016? Wherever it is, you're invited to come along … it's just a little further.

Christmas Nostalgia...Bubble Lights

Christmas in this family is all about traditions and memories ... telling and listening to stories. It's impossible to decorate the Christmas tree, for instance, without telling a story about each and every ornament that's being hung. It's a long procedure.

When I was a child, I remember making the present delivery runs just before Christmas. My mom would have wrapped all the gifts for the cousins and we traveled what seemed a long, long distance (20-30 miles maybe) to deliver them to my cousins in Clinton and Oxford and Dudley … all little Massachusetts towns … where members of the extensive Lacoste family resided. We'd just show up … no reservations required. The adults would have coffee and chat. The kids stayed out of the adults' purview and sneaked peeks at gifts under the tree.

My Aunt Jeannette's house was always a favorite stop. My seven cousins always seemed to have so much more fun than we did. After all, they had bubble lights on their tree and when we arrived, Uncle Henry would let us turn them on! We would all lie on the floor with our heads underneath their tree, looking up and watching the bubbles ... totally mesmerized … and mentally preparing ourselves, I guess, for the lava lamps that were to come in the next decade.

After listening to my sister recount the bubble light story for the umpteenth time, our cousins, Mark and Julia, ran across the nostalgic lights at a shop in Vermont and bought them for her. What a delight as she strung them with the greenery on the mantle. Since arriving, we've spent several evenings trying to unwind by watching the bubbles do their thing. We've discovered that a glass or two of wine tends to enhance the experience.

It's Christmas Eve. We're heading to friends for some Christmas cheer and then to a candlelight Christmas service at Lin's historic and beautiful UU church in Milton, Massachusetts. How are you spending your Christmas Eve?