Saint Nicholas's Companion

The Day of Saint Nicholas is observed on December 6; sometime in the eleventh century, in the Holy Roman Empire, children of merchants and other upper class citizens began putting their shoes outside their doors, the night before.  If the was child was good, they found a small coin or a baked treat inside their shoe in the morning; if the child had been misbehaving, they found either rocks, coal, or switches inside their shoe.
   The Christian church needed a High Holiday to compare with Yule, or the Winter Solstice.  They decided to celebrate the birth of the Christ child on December 25, and to have a special Christ's Mass to celebrate the day.  Household spirits, kobald and tomten, became helping elves, sometimes mischievous, for Saint Nicholas.
   Most notably in the areas encompassed by the Holy Roman Empire, Saint Nicholas suddenly had a "partner" on his  Feast Day's eve, and also on Christmas Eve - the Krampus.  Krampus has large curving horns, an extremely long tongue, one leg ends in a cloven hoof, the other in a bear paw.  He has large claws on his hands, and is covered with long dark hair (or fur).  In one hand he carries a bundle of birch switches, and in the other, a chain with bells and manacles.  Krampus' name is derived from the German word krampen, which means claw; he is said to be the son of the god Hel in Norse mythology.
   While Saint Nicholas brought toys, gifts, and food to good children, Krampus abducted bad children in chains and beat them with the birch switches until they promised to be good.  Some said the bad children were taken to Krampus' lair in the woods outside of town; others said they were taken to Hell and then released.  A few of the tales had Krampus transporting the bad children away in a sack thrown over his shoulder.
   Krampus was suppressed by the Catholic Church for many years, due to the raucous and drunken celebrations that seem to accompany him.  The fascists in World War II Europe thought Krampus was despicable because he was considered a creation of the Social Democrats.
  Currently, a modern take on the tradition of Krampus in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic involves men dressed as Krampus, in "devil" suits and masks, who take over the streets of towns on the night of December 5.  Participants in the Krampuslauf  have usually partaken of schnapps and other alcoholic beverages, and chase normal residents through the streets.
   Krampus is making a come-back now, thanks to the younger generation seeking ways to celebrate Yuletide in non-traditional ways.  In the United States, people are "buying in" to the trend for Krampus parties, as an anti-Christmas celebration.  In Austria, commercialization of Krampus is underway  with the selling of Krampus chocolates, figurines, and collectible horns.

Baltimore

Gee, I feel like I'm a kid again - and not in a good way.  Besides idyllic times on Chincoteague and Assateague Islands during the summers, I can easily recall the Cuban Missile Crisis and being taught to crawl under desks or tables and cover our heads if we heard the missile warning;  I remember seeing my Father cry watching the news of President Kennedy's assassination; I can remember my parents taking mys sister and me to Civil Rights marches and activities; I remember the march in Selma and how profoundly upset my parents were, and them explaining why they were upset to me; I remember all the protests that followed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and I remember hearing news of his assassination; I remember the rioting across the nation following Dr. King's death - and the violence in Baltimore at that time; and I remember the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and how deeply shaken my entire family was by what seemed to be a one-two punch: first Martin, then Bobby.  The world seemed about to break apart, and I was frightened.
  Flash forward about fifty years.  Today I am looking at rioting, again, in Baltimore, Maryland.  I always try to think of Baltimore as a happy place - the place where my parents spent their honeymoon back in 1948.  For me, Baltimore has always meant the Chesapeake Bay, boats, seafood, sailing, and shipping; now it's yet another city disrupted by racism.  Things have been rocky for some time, and I know it started long before the media was shining a spotlight on it - but it seems the list of men killed (African-American, Hispanic, white and other races) continues to grow without ceasing.  My mind immediately pulls up the names of Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Timothy Thomas, Michael Brown, Joel Acevedo, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and, now, Freddie Gray. Unarmed men, beaten and/or killed by law enforcement officers.  What is happening in our country?
  Less than two hours after the funeral of Freddie Gray, the latest victim of law enforcement officials, people were rioting in the streets of Baltimore.  Even though this young man's family was aasking for peaceful protests, if any, a few people got that adrenaline rush and decided to "push back" against authority.  I can easily understand marching and protesting with chanting and signs, I can easily understand a silent sit-in to commemorate the loss of life, I can easily understand getting upset over a huge and long-standing failure of care for those in custody.  But I cannot understand a mob mentality; I cannot understand attacking a CVS Pharmacy, breaking all the glass out of the building, stealing all the merchandise, and setting the business on fire.  The owners and employees there were not responsible for the death of Freddie Gray.  The Community Center next to a church that went up in a three-alarm blaze had nothing to do with the death of Freddie Gray.  Folks who's cars were torched on the street had nothing to do with the death of Freddie Gray. - Then, again, perhaps all of us, who sit back and watch these things happen, are, in part, responsible.  We haven't made our voices heard regarding the inequity between the races.
   I live in Boulder, Colorado.  My best friend here is African-American.  She is a part of the 1% of African-Americans who actually live in Boulder.  I don't have children of my own, but I have my husband's children from his previous marriages, and I'm happy and proud to say that two of those three kids fell in love with, and married, an African-American.  Skin color, eye color, hair color - any type of color of anything - should never make a difference in how a person regards another.  That is just plain stupid.
   I feel for the victims and the families of the victims of these crazy shootings, beatings, and deaths.  They each need to be thoroughly investigated, and punishments for those who did wrong - including any law enforcement officials - need to be meted out.  Unfortunately, none of these men can be restored to their lives.  No one knows how each of these persons might have changed the world - for the better, or for the worse.  I only know that there is no price tag attached to a human life.  Each and every life is priceless.  None of the above named men needed to die.  I can understand the anger - but anger must be controlled and used to make specific decisions; hopefully, those decisions will help change laws and procedures for the good.