Picture credit: Pinterest
Grandad Steele, born in 1893, used to have an old saying – “you get two warms with logs. The first when you cut it and the second when you burn it.” He came from the heroic generation who cut hay with a scythe, brought it in with horsepower fed by the said hay, and then milked the cows by hand; which had been country life for centuries with its cycles and traditions.
Jul pronounced yule is Swedish for Christmas – a dark cold time of the year when the European tradition of burning a special log to create light and heat and festivity at family gatherings. Another tradition on New Year’s Eve was to bring a lump of coal out of the front door back in through the rear door for good luck. When you think about it, light is eternal because the log with its annual rings has captured the warmth of the sun over many years and when set on fire creates a lighted flame. Treflach has plenty of firewood with cedar and yew being fragrant while holly burns the brightest.
Christmas is like the light all around us we cannot see until it is kindled.