Monthly Archives: November 2022

Nov 27 2022
Advent

Hope, Joy, Peace, Love

Advent is perhaps the quietest of seasons and it begins on Sunday in the quietest of ways, with the illumination of one simple candle. It’s not yet time for the opening of windows on the Advent calendar, nor the illumination of daily Advent candles –– both of these daily markers of the approach to Christmas begin on the First of December. But the Advent wreath, comprised of a ring of four candles –– three purple and one rose in our tradition –– operates on a different time scale. For each of these four Sundays before Christmas Day, we illuminate an increasing number of candles in the ring, and it begins, always, with the lighting of just one solitary candle, and that will come tonight, marking this First Sunday of Advent.

Advent is quite early this year, and so our Advent wreath will, most certainly, barely be a wreath. It is always Seth’s job to make our Advent wreath from discarded fir branches we pick up at the tree lot where we get our Christmas tree each year, but it’s November still and we have more pumpkins on our mind than Christmas trees, so we’ve no fir branches yet. For this First Sunday of Advent, we’ll begin even more sparely than usual, then, with just a ring of four candles. By the Second Sunday of Advent, surely that ring will be decorated with fresh Fraser fir, and it will smell wonderful. Greenery or no, we will light that first candle tonight: one purple candle, representing Hope. On the Second Sunday of Advent, two purple candles are illuminated: the original one and a new one, representing Peace. On the Third Sunday of Advent we add to those the rose candle, symbolizing Joy. And on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the third purple candle is illuminated, too, this one representing Love. With all four candles illuminated the Advent wreath shines brightest, just as the longest, darkest nights of the year are upon us. It is powerful symbolism and a reminder of how it is up to each of us to be a light bearer in times of darkness, through hope, through joy, through peace and love.

Advent is the beginning of the church year. It has another meaning, too: Arrival. And even if your Christmas celebration is a purely secular one, Advent has its place: this hope and peace and joy and love help us set the stage for the abundance that is Christmas. Hence Advent –– which used to begin on the 12th of November, the day after Martinmas and our annual time of remembering the dead –– brings us a time of preparation, a time of making our house as fair as we are able (as an old French Advent song goes). The house is literal, and it is figurative: we clean our home and prepare it for fir branches and a tree, but we are the house, as well, and before we can properly understand the joy and celebration of Christmas, it is helpful to acknowledge our need to feel those things, lest Christmas come off as too cloying, too sweet. And so we acknowledge the darkness, and understand that the light that pierces the darkness comes from within. Hide not your light under a bushel. And so it is a time, as well, to make amends, and to right wrongs.

While we don’t currently offer the rose and purple candles at our online shop (oh, but I am working on a source for handmade Advent candles for next year), we do offer the daily Advent calendars and candles. The candles are marked with numerals 1 through 24, as are the calendars. These are Old World traditions that have their roots in Germany. I’ve had a traditional glittery Advent calendar from Germany most every year, since I was a kid, when my sister Marietta would bring one home for me at the start of each December from her job at a card and gift shop that was owned by an old German couple, Fred and Jean Beisner. So many of our family’s Christmas traditions still to this day come down to us from the Biesners. And this is why we sell traditional German Advent calendars at the Convivio Bookworks website, and daily Advent candles, too, from Sweden: I loved these things from my childhood, and I hope you’ll love them, too. They are things no one needs, I know, and yet they help root us, and help us approach Christmas with sound footing.

I saved every one of those Advent calendars from my childhood, and even then, knew in my heart they were important enough that I should archive them by writing the date on the back. And here we are, all these years later, and here I am, a peddler of Advent calendars. You can still order yours today (we’ll ship them out today, too). Your order will most likely arrive just in time for the First of December, but if you should have a few days of fun catching up to do, then so be it. If you’re local, order and choose the Local Free Delivery option if you’re in the coastal Lake Worth, Lantana, or West Palm Beach area, and I’ll bring your order to you myself (by vintage Raleigh bicycle if you’re in my neighborhood), and you’ll definitely have your order in time for the start of the month. There’s even a sale going on:

JOYFUL SALE at our online shop
At our online shop, all through Advent and Christmastime: use discount code JOYFUL at checkout for $10 off your purchase of $85, plus get free domestic shipping. And if you think it’ll be difficult to spend $85 at our website, you’ve probably not stopped by in a long while. We add new items every week lately and I think you’ll be pleased with the variety you’ll find. Click here to shop!

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COME SEE US!
It’s Christmas Market Season and we are popping up all over South Florida!

CHRISTMAS MARKET at the German American Social Club, Miami
Saturday December 3 from 10 AM to 5 PM. It’s our first pop-up shop in Miami! We’ll be at this inaugural Christkindlmarkt at the German American Social Club, 11919 SW 56 Street, Miami 33175. Don’t let the “inaugural” fool you: The German American Social Club is home to Florida’s oldest Oktoberfest celebration, so they know what they’re doing! We’re looking forward to joining in the festivities. Admission is free, but you must register ahead of time to reserve your spot, as there are a limited number of tickets. Click here for the details.

KRAMPUSNACHT at the American German Club, Lake Worth
Friday December 9 from 7 to 11 PM. This spooky fun event at the American German Club on West Lantana Road kicks off the club’s annual Christkindlmarkt. We’ll be there with our largest pop-up shop ever. Tickets required, and they always sell out, so buy them early! Click here for full details.

CHRISTKINDLMARKT at the American German Club, Lake Worth
Saturday December 10 from 2 to 10 PM & Sunday December 11 from Noon to 8 PM. The two days following Krampusnacht at the American German Club on West Lantana Road brings their beautiful annual Christkindlmarkt and we will be there with our largest booth ever. Tickets are required, and this event always sells out, too, so buy your tickets early. Click here for full details.

JOHAN’S JÖE in Downtown West Palm Beach
We’re still hammering out the details, but we’re collaborating with our favorite Swedish coffee house in Downtown West Palm Beach on a special little 2-day Christmas pop-up shop: Friday December 16 and Saturday December 17, probably around 10 AM to 2 PM each day. We’ll keep you posted! Johan’s Jöe is located at 401 South Dixie Highway. Everything there is delicious and my mom and my niece love the big purple chairs.

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Nov 11 2022
4 Comments
Autumn, Book of Days Calendar, Martinmas

San Martino, or Your Convivio Book of Days for November

I told you at the start of November that this month’s Book of Days Calendar would be delayed, but I bet you didn’t think it would be this late! Anyway, here it is: a gift to you this St. Martin’s Night (or, should you see this on the 12th, a belated St. Martin’s Day gift). Cover star for this month’s calendar: Corn Shocks and Pumpkins, an 1864 oil painting by English artist William Trost Richards. We don’t see fields like this here in Lake Worth, but we do get those skies if we venture west at sunset to where the trees give way to endless sugar fields. The calendar is a printable PDF that is a nice companion to this blog, even if I don’t have as much time to write as I used to. Let the calendar be your reminder that you are never far from my heart. Here is a link to your Convivio Book of Days Calendar for November.

Here’s another gift to you, whether you receive it in time for Martinmas Night tonight or not: it is, I think, a fine gift no matter when you get it. It’s me reading a spooky story for St. Martin’s Night for the online story series Stay Awake: Bedtime Stories for Kids & Sleepy Adults. I’ve read an old Tirolean folktale called “Spooks A-Hunting” for the program. The story is collected and illustrated by Diane Goode and is from her 1994 Dutton Children’s Books edition of Diane Goode’s Book of Scary Stories & Songs. Worry not: The scare factor is minimal, and this story is suitable for all ages. Here is a link to the Stay Awake series at the website of the Jaffe Center for Book Arts. You’ll find my Martinmas tale there, as well as all the previous episodes of Stay Awake by me and other folks, too, like Kianga Jinaki reading the African folktale “The Greedy Hyena,” British artist Davy McGuire reading “That Pesky Rat,” and master storyteller Jonathan Kruk telling the tale of “The Misadventures of Ichabod Crane” (as well as a couple of other stories that I’ve read along the way for the project).

Martinmas brings the time of year when we taste the new wine (which is why the Beaujolais Nouveau wines are released about now) and it is the conclusion of our annual days of remembrance that began with Hallowe’en and the Days of the Dead: All Saints Day, All Souls Day. And now, Thanksgiving is on the horizon here in the States. The days prior to Thanksgiving will bring Stir-Up Sunday, the day traditionally reserved for the making of Christmas puddings and fruitcakes that need weeks to age to develop their flavors, and St. Cecilia’s Day, patron saint of musicians, and St. Clement’s Day, patron saint of blacksmiths and metal workers. After Thanksgiving, the First Sunday of Advent will arrive, and there we’ll be: on the road toward Christmas. Unbelievable as that may seem, so it is.

$10 OFF ONLINE
The current sale at our website: Use discount code JOYFUL for $10 off your purchase of $85 or more, plus free domestic shipping. Click here to shop! And if you think it would be difficult to spend $85 at our website, you’ve probably not visited in a long time. We’ve added lots of great new items, and we are adding even more new items weekly! Highlights right now: Advent calendars from Germany, Advent candles from Sweden and the UK, Christmas nutcrackers, pyramids, smokers, and ornaments from Germany, and candies and confections from Germany, too.

COME SEE US!
Quite a few Convivio Bookworks pop-up shops over the next few weeks; here’s a list of what’s planned. (There may very well be others; we’re still working out the details on a potential date or two in late November.)

SWEDISH JULMARKNAD & SANKTA LUCIA FESTIVAL in Boca Raton
Saturday November 19 from 11 AM to 3 PM. We love this event hosted each year by SWEA, the Swedish Women’s Educational Association, at First United Methodist Church, 625 NE Mizner Boulevard, Boca Raton 33432. Admission $5 (children under 12 free), payable at the door (no tickets required). Click here for full details (in Swedish… if you’d like some information in English, ask below in the comments).

CHRISTMAS MARKET in Miami
Saturday December 3 from 10 AM to 5 PM. It’s our first pop-up shop in Miami! We’ll be at this inaugural Christkindlmarkt at the German American Social Club, 11919 SW 56 Street, Miami 33175. Don’t let the “inaugural” fool you: The German American Social Club is home to Florida’s oldest Oktoberfest celebration, so they know what they’re doing! We’re looking forward to joining in the festivities. Admission is free, but you must register ahead of time to reserve your spot, as there are a limited number of tickets. Click here for the details.

KRAMPUSNACHT in Suburban Lake Worth
Friday December 9 from 7 to 11 PM. This spooky fun event at the American German Club on West Lantana Road kicks off the club’s annual Christkindlmarkt. We’ll be there with our largest pop-up shop ever. Tickets required, and they always sell out, so buy them early! Click here for full details.

CHRISTKINDLMARKT in Suburban Lake Worth
Saturday December 10 from 2 to 10 PM & Sunday December 11 from Noon to 8 PM. The two days following Krampusnacht at the American German Club on West Lantana Road brings their beautiful annual Christkindlmarkt and we will be there with our largest booth ever. Tickets are required, and this event always sells out, too, so buy your tickets early. Click here for full details.

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That’s all for now. No wonder your November Book of Days Calendar is so late! If you’re local, I do hope we’ll see you at one of these fun events. And if you’re from away, get those Advent orders in now so you have your calendars and candles in time for the First of December, which is when our calendars and candles all begin. May you love the anticipation of Christmas as much as Christmas itself, and in so doing, may you enjoy these autumn days fully for what they are. All things in their time. There is plenty of time for Christmas once it arrives.

Image: “Corn Shocks and Pumpkins” by William Trost Richards. Oil on canvas, 1864 [Public domain via Wikimedia Commons].

 

 

Nov 01 2022
Day of the Dead, Halloween

Hallowtide

All Hallow’s Eve leads us into Hallowtide: All Saints Day on the First of November, All Souls Day on the Second, and all the days beyond to Martinmas on November 11. This is the time each year when we most remember our beloved dead.

I don’t know what my earliest recollection of Hallowe’en is, but I know that I have loved it since I was a child, and I have not outgrown that excitement. The understanding, too, that Hallowe’en ushers in a time of remembrance is also something I have long understood, thanks mainly to the observances that were part of this time of year for my family each late autumn. Always on the table at Hallowe’en and Ognissanti is a penitential dessert from Puglia, the region in Italy from which my grandparents hailed. The dish, called ciccecútte,  is something we eat just at this time of year, which is probably why we understand, from early on, that it is special. It’s made from cooked wheat berries, pomegranate, roasted almonds, and chocolate, covered in vincotto, spiced with cinnamon and cloves. It is a most earthy taste, reminding us of things below, rather than above. It is a dessert that handily calls to mind Persephone’s journey below the earth each autumn and winter, a ritual dish one eats to be in communion with all that rests below the earth.

Besides the pumpkins and the cornstalks, the costumes and the masks, this is what I love about Hallowe’en. And so I beg your forgiveness for the fact that I’ve not even begun your Convivio Book of Days Calendar for November. I’ll get it out to you as soon as I can. But it’s not today, and it may not be for quite a few days. If the calendar was ready for you, here’s what it would say for these first few days of the month:

November 1: All Saints Day (All Hallows)
Hallowe’en ushers in this day honoring all saints. It’s also Samhain, the Celtic New Year, bringing us closer to winter.

November 2: All Souls Day; I Morti; Dia de Los Muertos
These old and sacred celebrations keep us connected to those who have left this world.

November 11: Martinmas
The traditional close of this annual time of remembrance.

COME SEE US!
Our next pop-up market is this Saturday, November 5, from 3 to 9 PM: It’s the Dia de Los Muertos celebration here in Lake Worth at Hatch 1121, which is at 1121 West Lucerne Avenue. You’ll find our ofrenda on display inside Hatch, and we’ll be outside showing most all of our handicrafts from Mexico. Next to us will be my mom showing her Millie’s Tea Towels: each one is embroidered by hand by Mom. Free entry, live music. This community Day of the Dead celebration is great fun. Sorry, we will not be showing at Florida Day of the Dead in Fort Lauderdale this year.

ADVENT CALENDARS
Now’s the time to order Advent calendars and candles! Our calendars are all from Germany; our candles are from Sweden and the UK. Click here to get to our online catalog!

The CONVIVIO DISPATCH for HALLOWE’EN
Folks subscribed to our sister publication, The Convivio Dispatch, which is a more story-focused publication delivered as an email in your inbox, received yesterday our annual Convivio Dispatch for Hallowe’en, which this year was a mystery called “Trembling the Web of Wyrd.” As my gift to you, click here to read the tale. If you like it, please consider subscribing. It’s free and my dispatches are few and far between, trust me… so there won’t be a lot of clutter in your inbox; just an occasional good story.

 

Image: Our Jack o’ Lanterns this Hallowe’en. Seth’s is the toothless one.