Christmas in My Bones

There is an old eloquent, and perhaps naïve folk expression which I have not heard much in recent years. People used to say, “I’ve got Christmas in my bones.” It indicates a feeling which stirs—or should stir—in the human marrow at the approach of and throughout the Christmas season. It is a warm, gentle excitement, a quiet rejoicing merriment that comes from deep inside and fills the heart and tingles the blood. It comes from seeing clear winter nights filled with crisp air and brilliant stars, from bright windows in homes and shops, from candles and tinsel and gay packages and children’s faces. I've got Christmas in my bones. Thus does Mutt Burton begin this warm and gentle book about his lifelong passion for Christmas and all its trappings. Burton, a Christmas scholar and an ardent promoter of the Twelve Days of Christmas, writes about every aspect of the season, including Christmas history and lore. More importantly, he reminisces about his family’s Christmas traditi