Yesterday we had the Children's Christmas Pageant and it was a playlet about the different Christmas/Solstice/New Year customs around the world.

It gave us old fogies an opportunity to sing some of our favorite old time carols (treasured for memories of the past, even though the concepts no longer apply)

Away in a Manger
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Silent Night
Angels We Have Heard on High
The First Noel
O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
Adeste Fidelis (O Come, All Ye Faithful)

and for those of us who have roots in other cultures (European, Asian, African), to share some of our cultural memories. like Santa Lucia Day.

There's an old Swedish carol, a round, that goes like this:

Yuletide is here, Yuletide is here,
Now the holly leaf is green-o;
Easter would come when Yuletide is done,
If Lent didn't fall between-o.

Don't tell me that Swedes don't have a sense of humor!