Boxing Day...

The etymology of Boxing Day as found in Wikipedia:

The exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear and there are several competing theories, none of which are definitive.[3] The tradition has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions. Operations managers are strongly encouraged to pay Christmas bonuses to operations coordinators. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era; metal boxes placed outside churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen.[4] In the United Kingdom, it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth-century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their "Christmas boxes" or gifts on the day after Christmas in return for good and reliable service throughout the year.[5] Another possibility is that the name derives from an old English tradition: in exchange for ensuring that wealthy landowners' Christmases ran smoothly, their servants were allowed to take the 26th off to visit their families. The employers gave each servant a box containing gifts and bonuses (and sometimes leftover food). In addition, around the 1800s, churches opened their alms boxes (boxes where people place monetary donations) and distributed the contents to the poor. Whenever the 26th December falls on a Sunday traditionally Boxing Day is moved to the 27th December—supposedly to ensure that Sunday church-going and other Sunday observance is maintained. In modern times, it is mainly the day to "box up" and return gifts.



For those of you who are not among the Boxing Day nations it is also a day in which massive sales are held and people who ought to be glutted from the gift giving frenzy of the day before are indeed even more in want of STUFF. Me, I do not go to boxing day sales. I stay at home and eat toasted turkey sandwiches and quality street chocolates and hunt around in my home for the gifts that make Gomish so special.

What is Gomish you ask? Well, it is a holiday for six people in Nova Scotia. It falls somewhere in between Christmas and New Years - this year on the 28th. Four of the six travel long distances to meet the other two in their home in Merigomish. We exchange gifts that at least in the case of the three women must be either handmade, baked or cooked, or found in one's own home. Nothing bought especially for the holiday in other words. The men cheat because they don't quite get it and buy books and booze for each other.

We eat fabulous food cooked by our Linder, we open presents and ooh and ah, we play silly games like Pictionary, and we drink and talk. Repeat until bedtime and then a lazy morning with more cooking and talking but little drinking.

We love Gomish. It is not for children or for family but for that other part of an adult's life - friends. It is a chance to reconnect in our busy lives and put the focus square on the important things in our friendship - food, talk and silliness.

You may create your own holiday - you can even call it Gomish if you like - but don't make it about doing the right thing, or the holy thing, the commercial or charitable thing because it is beyond that all together.

All together.