MARILYN CORNWELL: Marilyn's Photos - Dec 24 2025

Is this the case? There are only two Eves that we celebrate - Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. I guess Halloween could be considered an Eve since that’s the origin of its name, but then we don’t celebrate All Saints’ Day so it seems a remote example.

There are a few we might have some awareness of - Easter Eve, if one is Catholic, is a day of vigilance and anticipation of the resurrection. Twelfth Night and Epiphany Eve - January 5 or 6 are the final nights of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which we have gotten backwards in modern times. Twelfth Night is better known as a Shakespearean play in my view. Here’s one: if you live in Newfoundland, there is Tibb’s Eve on December 23rd - it is a party night.

What makes us celebrate Christmas Eve? It is the arrival of Santa Claus during the night? That’s our current celebration. One can read explanations of Bible passages that point to Christ being born at midnight. The passage is in Wisdom of Solomon 18 - the birth would occur when “the night in its swift course was half spent.” Doesn’t that sound Shakespearean - we’re back to the play again.

New Year’s Eve commands a lot more attention in our times. It demands a countdown with a big arrival. In the way-back time machine, it would have been sundown or sunrise. We don’t have clocks to just sit around and count with them - tour magic began in 1884 when midnight became the official dividing line between days worldwide. Then New Year’s Eve took off.

So today is the day that marks Christmas Eve. I guess we should make the most of it, somehow. We can’t decorate the tree - it has been up since November with the Fantasy of Trees and is on its second decoration theme. Feasts? Early presents? That’s the recommendation.

I was at the Watering Can yesterday without Millie, and got asked at least 10 times by staff and visitors (yes, people go there often) “Where’s Millie?” I wanted to buy something and Millie is not one to wait patiently in a check-out line. She pushes everyone out of the way and demands peanut pumpkin treats from the cashiers.

Here is a special Watering Can story - this sofa named Betsy. She was there for years, and has been retired. There are replacements - very similar.

I was wondering what TASC is up to - it is a spring tulip display that is advertised as a tourist destination in Niagara-on-the-Lake. I found a picture of what looked like Betsy in the field. There are slight differences between my picture and the later two. Betsy was renovated - the middle shot is from Facebook with the headline Betsy has a makeover. I do suspect she got replaced in the middle shot, given the wood is natural and not painted.

Wonder where Betsy is for Christmas.