By: Syd Schertzer

Tis the season to be jolly! Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or etc.…, whatever it is, it’s the holiday season, which means time off of school and more time to spend with your family!

Things can be become a little hectic around the house; like last minute packing for a vacation or cleaning every inch of the house before family arrives. In-between all the chaos there is still excitement in the air.  Remember, the true gift of the holidays is family. Cherish the time you have with them and PUT DOWN THE PHONE. Have a conversation, laugh at old memories, or enjoy the view of the tropical place you may have traveled to in the past.

Holiday Fun Facts:

  • A village in Peru where people settle the previous year’s grudges by fist fighting then start the new year with a clean slate.
  • Zoo’s accept old Christmas tree donations as food for their animals (real ones only of course)
  • During Christmas of 1914 (World War 1) a truce was held between Germany and the U.K. and they decorated their shelters and even exchanged gifts and played a game of football in no man’s land.
  • The word Kwanzaa also has seven letters and the tradition consists of 7 Principles and 7 Primary Symbols. They stress the values and ideals of the festival during the 7 days of celebration.
  •  Although about 2000 languages are spoken around the African continent, the unifying language of Swahili has been adopted and Kwanzaa in Swahili means first fruits
  • The three colors of the Kwanzaa reflect the Pan-African movement of unity. Each color denotes a different meaning; for example, green stands for the rich Greenery and hope of Africa. The black in the flag represents its people and red represents the noble blood of all the ancestors of African people and their struggle that unites them together. 
  • Hanukkah lasts 8 days because when they re-conquered the temple, the Maccabees lit a lamp, which only had oil to last one day but the lamp burned for eight.
  • Traditional Hanukkah food is all fried in oil in order to celebrate the miracle of oil.
  • Modern dreidels have four Hebrew letters written on them that translate to “ a great miracle happened there.”

Now is the perfect time to wrap up the year with one last hoorah before all the hustle and bustle of getting back to work or school. Enjoy the valuable time you have with you family while making some more lasting memories that you will never forget!!!

All the staff at Owens Counseling wishing you happy holidays!!

https://list25.com/25-facts-about-hanukkah-you-might-not-know/3/

https://list25.com/25-bizarre-interesting-facts-christmas/

http://infomory.com/facts/interesting-facts-about-kwanzaa/