On December 13th, close to the shortest day of winter, little girls in Sweden dress up as Saint Lucia, wearing a long white dress and a crown of candles.
(Wikipedia offers more about Santa Lucia Day in Sweden and other countries.)
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I always hope that my hellebores will bloom in December - but thus far, no luck. They look great in February though! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the St.Lucia celebration we used to have at the James Beard House, when I did photography there...and the line of Swedish girls wearing the wreaths and holding candles and singing...soo pretty!
ReplyDeleteThere is a group of Swedish women in our city and they hold a lights festival on St. Lucia's day. The girls are so beautiful , like Angels on Earth. Really beautiful celebration, indeed.
ReplyDeleteTIC ILLUSTRATION:
ReplyDeleteEven as far south as Washington, DC the hellebores do not bloom til after Christmas. I know of one place that always made me slow down for the beautiful hellebores around the mailbox, they're of a striking beauty. In Austria they grow in the wild, at the edge of woods, they stick their little heads out from still heavy snow blanket. Gotta go see them this year.
PARIS BREAKFASTS:
James Beard House, Julia Child, Alice Waters ... help, I'm getting a severe case of nostalgia!
IRENE:
Even though one of my best friends is from Sweden, I've never seen her little girl on St. Lucia Day. (Need to make a list of the three thousand things I need to see before I stop being curious! *g*)