Cricket Ball Squash, Santa Claus, Italy and us ...

We do have some weird and wonderful mixtures of words and descriptions ... and as of last night my story today was not going to be on cricket, balls, squash, or Italy .. yes Santa Claus and obviously the blog. But there we go, another tale to tell.
What on earth could the connection be? Well – a friend of my mother’s, who lives in Cornwall, visits Italy twice a year .. and sees an old friend of hers, who used to live in South Africa, as I did. So one connection down! Elizabeth asked me if I’d heard of cricket ball squash .. “no”: I said – I’ve heard of and eaten spaghetti squash, but not cricket ball squash.

Oryx (a gazelle) – face similar to CedarPond’s herd .. but not the same!

The words don’t come out so easily now-a-days: too much going on – but I guessed that the little green round squash might hold the answer. This morning .. little gems came to mind. However I searched for “cricket ball squash” and up immediately up came the answer – little gems (acorn squash) halved, or baked and served a la Jamie Oliver. So that connection was solved – why it’s called cricket ball squash, when cricket balls are usually red – I have no idea.




Acorn or Little Gem Squash



The second of the searches stumbled me into CedarPond’s blog – and this wonderful picture .. which you have to click over to see – it epitomises Christmas as I’d love to see it outside my house – wonderful sheep (I tried to find out their name – not Bighorn, nor are they Mouflons – I hope Cedar Pond will tell us!) with their beautiful faces and clear eyes looking at us across the snow. On top of that Cedar Pond have their very own Santa Claus – and a very pretty good looking brood – looks like they’ll be having loads of fun at Christmas.

CedarPond had also seen the cricket ball squash and been so enamoured of it – they have posted a recipe for it. Well I have to say when I started out today I never thought our ubiquitous English game of cricket , usually played with a red ball not a green one, and certainly I never played squash with a ball larger than a squash ball – and the little gem is somewhat larger. Though the mess of hitting a little gem in a squash court with a cricket bat is a thought too far – especially now when we really don’t need any more cleaning up to do.

So I’ve solved one of Cilla’s (in Italy) question s – now the other escaped me .. it concerns Aesop’s African Fables .. and that I cannot find out about. However I have also been asked some other more suitable questions for this time of year – such as Advent, the 12 days of Christmas and the decorations of the Christmas tree – this last part was answered in my earlier post: What Christmas memory comes back to you at the beginning of December?

Mouflon in Buffalo Zoo (also not the same)

Santa Claus is another mix up – as his name is actually a contraction of Santa Nikolaus, the patron saint of German children, and he’s just had his feast day on 6th December, which still forms a major role at this time of year in certain European countries. He would be absolutely thrilled to visit CedarPond and all families with believing children to be able to work his magic there; as Santa Nikolaus distributes gifts to “good children”.

The present custom with his reindeer being introduced into England from Germany in about 1840, whereby small toys and other small presents are put into a stocking (as it would have been in the 1840s), so when they wake up on Christmas morning they find Santa Claus had remembered them. The wonders of childhood.

Merry Old Santa: 1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who, with Clement Clarke Moore, helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus

The beginning of the Church year is called ‘Advent’ and commences on St Andrews Day, 30 November, or the first Sunday nearest to it. It is the four week period before Christmas Day and commemorates the first and second coming of Christ; the first to redeem and the second to judge the world. The first Sunday in Advent is the beginning of the Church year. Elizabeth in Cornwall asked about this.

So now away from Cornwall and Italy to America, Japan and China .. another reader, whose wife is Chinese asked about the 12 days of Christmas ... in simple terms as far as the West is concerned it is the 12 day festival starting on December 25, and ending on January 5, known as Christmastide or the twelve days of Christmas.

The characteristic reindeer in Svalbard, an archipelago between Norway and the North Pole

As I described here Christmas as a date and period of celebration has over the past two thousand years been affected by societal development, from Saturnalia and paganism, to the more prescribed Roman practices, followed by Christianity and other changes .... including the move away from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar in the Middle Ages, also mentioned in this post.

The Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 is a Christian feast day celebrating the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ, as described by the Magi (the three wise men) when they bore their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the baby Jesus. Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night” (1600-1601) was so called because it was written for acting at the Twelfth Night revels.

Byzantine art usually depicts the Magi in Persian clothing which includes breeches, capes, and Phyrgian caps). A restored mosaic, dated circa 600, found in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy.

This third part of the Liturgical year has concluded our cricket ball squash story, Santa Claus and his hide out at CedarPond, and our tour around part of the world connecting questions raised with answers. Please continue to enjoy your Advent before the merrymaking of Saturnalia commences.

Dear Mr Postman .. many thanks for delivering this letter on what appears to be our last warm day before the cold of winter really sets in. All seems quiet at the moment with my mother and she is pleased to get her Christmas cards as they are starting to come in and it cheers her that she hears from family and friends. I have yet to do the decorations!

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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