Twelfth Night

I suppose I should have wished all of our readers a happy Twelfth Night yesterday, since Twelfth Night is the evening of the fifth of January. It precedes Twelfth Day (that's today, the sixth of January), the eve of the celebration of the Epiphany (the Adoration of the Magi, or Wise Men). Twelfth Night is the last day of the Christmas season, the night of January 5-6 (hence the "Twelve Days of Christmas" which are December 25 - January 5 [or in some traditions, December 26 - January 6] not the day after Thanksgiving to December 25, as popular culture would suggest). Twelfth Night has traditionally been observed as a time of merrymaking.

On Ocracoke, at least one Twelfth Night Celebration was held on Sunday evening (OK, there was a bit of fudging there) with several dozen islanders getting together for food, drink, and a bit of mild merrymaking. It's always a fun way to end the holiday season. Here is a web site with some history and a few suggestions for a Twelfth Night Celebration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday)

I thought you might enjoy the following photo of Lou Ann and me. It was taken on Christmas Eve (not on Twelfth Night) by Ocracoke's Methodist minister, Joyce Reynolds.



Happy Twelfth Night!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.