Happy Boxing Day!

Happy Boxing Day to those (including my friends here in Japan) for whom it's December 26th when you see this. Merry Christmas to my friends and relatives for whom it's still December 25th. If any of my readers celebrate some other holiday around today, I wish you a happy holiday of your choice.

Boxing Day is an official national/public holiday--what some call a banking holiday because the banks are closed--in several countries, mostly the Commonwealth countries. The origin of the name is not enitrely clear; there are several theories that can be found with a bit of online research.

As Saint Stephen's Day it's celebrated as a public holiday in numerous countries as diverse as Austria, Catalonia, Germany, and Poland. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the day on December 27th, and their use of the Julian Calendar puts the day on January 9th of the Gregorian Calendar, which can be a little confusing, I suppose, but not really any more so than the Asian observation of New Year on different days depending on whether one uses the Grgorian or Lunar Calendar.

St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr, and it's from him that I get the second of my two middle names, although it's spelled "Steven", with a "v" instead of a "ph", on my birth certificate. For the several people in my past who had believed me when I told them that my middle initials stand for "Extra Special", I have to confess that I was kidding: sadly, it's the much more prosaic "Edward Steven".

This seemed like a good day to resume posting on my blog. Among other things, I'll go into the reasons for the hiatus in a longish post at the end of the year. For now, I'm just letting you know that I'm back, and wishing you a Happy Boxing Day, and happy holidays of whatever sort you prefer. Cheers!