Christmas, 7 January 2016

A happy Christmas to everyone marking it today.

A detail I had not noticed for years: the kutia is served first, and in many houses it is also taken again at the very end, so the meal opens and closes with the same dish.

Nobody I asked could explain why. Several people had never noticed it and, once it was pointed out, could not imagine doing it any other way.

That is the most reliable sign that something is genuinely old. A custom people can explain has usually been reasoned about recently. A custom nobody can explain and nobody would change has been carried without argument for a very long time.

Peace to your house, and a good evening tonight.