Time To Clean Your Plow...!

Well, it's that time again!

All the folks that took vacation time or just extra time off for the holidays should now be ready to go back to work. Enough fun with the kids, the new toys, the visiting relatives, and the left-overs! Time to get serious...!

Enter Plough (plow) Day...!!

The first Monday after Epiphany (January 6) was the day for the menfolk to return to work after the holidays -- although no work was actually done on this day. Dressed in clean white smocks decorated with ribbons, the men dragged a plow (plough) through the village and collected money for the "plow light" that was kept burning in the church all year. Often men from several farms joined together to pull the plow through all their villages. They sang and danced their way from village to village to the accompaniment of music. In the evening, each farmer provided a Plough Monday supper for his workers, with plentiful beef and ale for all.

I think the old timers had the right idea! I figure that if you gotta go back to work, then this is the way to spend the first Monday back in the saddle !

Sort of takes the sting out of the whole "going back to work thing", don't you think? I wonder if this is where the term " back into harness" came from?

So, my friends, let's get some fresh coffee and sit in the kitchen for a bit. Oh, and thanks to the Old Farmer's Almanac for this little tid-bit!