There was a beautiful sunrise in the woods, this morning, so I braved the chilly temperatures (24F) and took some pictures of it.
December 6th is the Feast of St. Nicholas in Europe. In Hungary, we called him Mikulas Bacsi. Santa Claus was not a part of our Christmases.
Mikulas Bacsi came on the Eve of St. Nicholas, dressed in the robes of a bishop, with a red miter on his head, a staff in one hand and a sack full of small presents in the other. He didn't come on a sleigh, pulled by some raindeer. He was accompanying by a scary "Devil" boy, or Krampusz, in a black costume, complete with horns and a long tail. He usually held a switch made of dry twigs, ready to smack any "naughty" children.
Each "good" child received a small gift and some sweets from Mikulas Bacsi.
I like the American Santa Claus better!
Christmas cheers and blessings!
35 comments:
Good Morning Renie,
WOW, what a beautiful sunrise. It is just breathtaking. And yes my friend, it is a cold morning here as well. It is 28 degrees with a windchill of 18 degrees. The high today is suppose to be only 45 degrees. I am freezing sitting here at my computer. I loved the story you told about the Hungarian Santa. I wouldn't want to know that Santa. I'm like you, the American Santa is much better. Well, take care my friend and have a Blessed Thursday. May God Bless You and Yours. Stay warm today.
Hugs,
Karen H.
Hi Karen,
Too cold out there for me, this morning. As soon as I came in from tasking my sunrise pictures, I had a hot cup of coffee. At least the sun is shining! Thank you for coming by and your always friendly and nice comments. Have a wonderful Thursday. God bless!
Hugs,
Renie
Very nice picture!
That camera is sure coming in handy
and you're taking good pictures with it, wow! But dont be going outside
at 6 a.m. anymore!
Love the St. Nick story.
stay warm!
xox
Hey sweetie,
What do you think the girls would think of Mikulas Bacsi? Lol.
I had to go out before it got light, to take the picture of the sunrise. Yes, my little camera comes in handy.
Hope you're all doing well.
xoxo
Good morning Renie,
What a breathtaking sunrise you've shared with us. Brrr, it sure sounds chilly there. As I type this it's 69ยบ outside!
Enjoy your Thursday..
xo
Susie, Hi!!!
It's wonderful to see you getting around, visiting again. I missed you! And I'm very jealous of your 69 degree temperatures. Lol.
Christmas blessings!
Renie
Your sunrise was magnificient. It's amazing the range of colors that can be seen at sunrise and sunset. A couple of weeks ago, Brandon and I saw a beautiful sunset on our way home from the farm. Alas, I didn't have my camera along that day.
The Hungarian custom is so interesting. I enjoy learning about different cultures, but also prefer the American Santa Claus.
Blessings for a great day.
Mary
Hi Mary,
Sunrises and sunsets do have a great range of colors. I love the sunrise here. Makes the woods glow!
I'm glad you enjoyed the picture, and the Hungarian Santa information. At Christmas, the angels deliver the presents from the baby Jesus. Thank you for coming by and for your always nice comments. Take care and God bless!
Renie
Hi Renie,
Beautiful, beautiful photo! And... you said you weren't a very good photographer. Ha! I bet to differ ;-)
Love the tale of Mikulas Bacsi, too! You're a storyteller like no other!
Smiles,
Michele
Do stay warm!
Good afternoon Renie,
Beautiful sunrise. Our daughter puts on her blog lots of sun sets. You can see them at http://photographyfordummies.blogspot.com She's learning how to use her new camera.
I have a blogging friend from the Netherlands and she was telling about their customs. Here is her blog http://readerwil.efx2blogs.com
You may enjoy looking at both of these.
Hope you are keeping warm. Right now at 4:15pm it is only 26 today. Been cold for the last couple of days. I just don't like weather this cold and icy. Seems my bones take forever to get warm and stay warm.
Have a good evening.
Patty
Renie, that holiday, and old Krampusz, must have somehow intertwined into America at some point, in some way - although I'm sure that over time it got distorted. Aunt Marie use to tell us that if we didn't behave that all we'd get for Christmas was a sock full of switches. lol.
hmmm, makes me wonder if she knew any hungarian immigrants or if she just heard the tale, knew of the Holiday customs. I've never really gave it much thought until now, given that you've told the story.
Hi Michele,
Aww, you're so sweet! But I think you're also a little prejudiced! Heehee. But I'm glad you are. Friends are like that. Thank you for the nice comment.
Christmas blessings!
Renie
Hi Patty,
Oh, I will check out your daughters blog. I love sunsets as well, but we don't have spectacular sunsets here. For a sunset you need a wide, open range, and there are just too many trees all over around here for nice sunsets. But a sunrise looks nice behind the trees.
I will also visit your friend from the Netherlands blog. I love to read about various Christmas customs from around the world.
I don't like the real cold weather either. Older bones don't like to be chilled! Lol.
Thank you for coming by. I hope you have enjoyed your reward! Lol.
Holiday cheers,
Renie
Hi Deborah,
Old Krampusz was a scary "devil," and your Aunt Marie probably heard of him somewhere. In some parts of Europe, Krampusz left some pieces of coal for the bad children.
With my own kids, we pretty well went with Santa. He was the best guy around. My daughter does leave a little gift for my granddaughters on St. Nicholas Eve, from Mikulas Bacsi, just for fun.
Hey, did you try the Hungarian soup?
Thanks for coming by. I enjoy hearing from you.
Renie
Good Morning Renie,
Did yall get any Wintry Mix yesterday. I seen on our locat television station where there were some Winter Weather Advisory's out for your neck of the woods. It did a little something late yesterday afternoon. I looked out my front door and my vehicle had some wet spots on it. I know one thing, it sure was a cold day. Yesterday afternoon late it did finally make it up to 34 degrees. Heat wave huh? LOL. It is 36 degrees with a windchill of 29 this morning. Hubby just left for work and it is raining real lightly outside. It may be raining on our parade tomorrow also. Rain is in the forecast here for pretty much all weekend and all of next week. I still haven't posted yet. I've been down in the dumps since yesterday. I have no idea why. I may post later on. We will see. Well, take care my friend and have a great Friday. May God Bless You.
Love & Hugs,
Karen H.
Hi Karen!
No, we didn't get any wintry mix, thank the Lord! Cloudy here, but no rain yet. I hope it holds off for your parade. No fun to get rain on a parade! Hope you are up from the "dumps" and have a great day. Got to get ready to take a kitten to get spayed today. Thanks for coming by. Take care and God bless!
Hugs,
Renie
You always capture my attention with your stories. Just wanted to drop in and say hello. Hope you and yours have a blessed day.
Laura
Thank you, Melinda!
Thank you kindly, Laura!
Blessings,
Renie
Dearest Renie
WOW!
The sunrise is so lovely.
Thank you so much for sharing it =)
Dear Audrey,
Thanks so much for your lovely comment!
Blessings and Hugs,
Renie
Dear Renie ~~ Beautiful sunrise - brrr -too cold outdoors so early. Thank you for the story of Christmas in Hungary. That was so interesting, but I think Santa is best too. Thanks for your comments, I am glad you liked the Bell = it was nice. And I agree English is very difficult. Take great care, my friend, Love, Merle.
Dear Merle,
Thank you for your always nice comments. I am glad I took the sunrise photo the other day. It has been rainy since then, so beautiful sunrises are blocked by the clouds.
Have a lovely weekend, my friend.
Warmest regards always,
Renie
Good Afternoon Renie,
Well I have finally posted for today. I did it earlier this morning. I am feeling much better, "Thank You". I am not going to let it get me down. I really do enjoy blogging. It is a cloudy day here and very foggy. I hope it don't "Rain on our Parade" tonight. If it does, we still have our Church Program tonight as well. Rain is in the forecast for Sunday and Monday as well. I hope you have a great weekend and stay dry. May God Bless You.
Hugs,
Karen H.
Hmmm, making a lot of typo's lately. Sorry about that. Lol.
Hi Karen,
I just typed a reply, messed it up, deleted it, messed things up again, so I'm on here twice. Sheesh! Lol
Glad you're up from the dumps. Have fun at the church Christmas party. Guess we have to contend with the rain for the next 3 days. Oh well, better than frozen percipitation. Will be by to check out your new post. Have a blessed weekend with your lovely family.
Hugs,
Renie
What a gorgeous picture! It's been about 14 degrees here!
I love reading your stories of Hungary!
Have a great weekend!
Beemoosie, Hi!
Nice to see you again. Fourteen degrees? Where are you, in Alaska? Lol.
Thank you for your kind comment on the picture and my stories.
Blessings, and have a great weekend as well!
Renie
lovely picture,I only get the sun sets here.and they are so lovely when a storm frontis moving in or out.
I was out to Anna,s last night cause Lucy and the girls came up for the day.we had a nice time.I visited with my son in law while the girls got rid of their gray hair.the three or four they have.now I have a half a head full and let it all hang out.Ill be glad when I hve it all gray cause its the sliver kind.then maybe Ill go blonde.hee hee.
Hi Leann,
Sunrise/sunset-they are both beautiful. Of course, you take the best photos in blogland!
That was nice that you were visiting Anna, and had some time with your son-in-law.
The silver gray hair is gorgeous. I'm waiting for mine to turn that color. My grandma has the most beautiful head of white hair you ever saw. Everyone always commented on it. And it was all "nature made," So I'm hoping I inherited that trait.
Thank you for visiting. I always enjoy hearing from you. Have a great week.
Blessings and Hugs,
Renie
Renie,
Gorgeous sunrise! I enjoyed learning about the Hungarian Santa and his "helper". Very interesting. I guess I prefer the American Santa, too. I certainly prefer his elves! LOL
Stay warm!
Hugs,
Tina
Thank you, Tina.
Holiday cheers!
Renie
I think I like our chubby Santa better too...Although there seems to have been more than just coal in the stocking if you weren't good with this guy.
Have a great day, Renie!!
Hi Grandy,
Yes, well, back in the old days threatening kids with a switch wasn't frowned upon, like it is these days. A Krampusz in America would go to jail for doing that here!
Good to see you!
Renie
Post a Comment