The Twelve Days of Christmas, One Street at a Time

It was Christmas Eve last Wednesday and 22 walkers from our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesday group with one K-9 best friend were at the Exedra at our regular time. We claim it never rains on Wednesday mornings in Piedmont and this morning we were right again. It had rained heavily with strong winds during the night, but there were just clouds and plenty of sunshine for our walk.

We were mindful of the services that the Piedmont Police and Fire Departments provide for the city. We appreciates these good people who serve 24/7/365 and that they were on duty at this holiday time. Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore Avenue is also open 24/7/365 and we had boxes of donuts for Police and Fire Departments’ staff.

We made a short walk to the Veterans Building and called the Police Department. We told the dispatcher that we had something for the staff and Officers Tyler Petit and Hugo Diaz came out for the donut delivery. Then they joined us for our next stop at the Fire Department. As luck would have it, a fire truck with its crew were returning from a call. After they backed the truck into the station they happily received their donuts and called the rest of the firefighters on duty to come outside for a group photo.

After these visits, we regrouped at the Exedra for our next destinations. But first, it was shared that 12 Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol and there is more to the song. From 1558 to 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not able to practice their faith openly, so they had to find other ways to pass on their beliefs. Someone may have written the song with two levels of meaning. One is the surface meaning, but the other might have been known only to Church members. Each gift in the carol may have been a code for a Catholic religious concept which the children could remember.

The song starts, “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me.” True love represents God, and “me” is the Christian. The “partridge in a pear tree” represents Jesus Christ who died on a tree. Two turtle doves represent the Old and New Testaments. Three French hens are faith, hope and love, the three gifts of the Spirit. Four calling birds are the four Gospels. Five golden rings are the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Books of Moses. Six geese a-laying are the six days of creation. Seven swans a-swimming are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Eight maids a milking are the eight beatitudes. Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments. Eleven pipers piping are the eleven faithful disciples. And twelve drummers drumming are the twelve points of the Apostles’ Creed.

As a holiday tradition, some residents of Highland, Guilford, Caperton, and Sheridan Avenues have created representations in their homes’ windows or entryways of the gifts in the 12 Days of Christmas carol. We thought it would be fun to go search for them. Along our way to Guilford, we went through Piedmont Park and checked out the water flow in Bushy Dell Creek, which was good after the recent rain.

We emerged on Guilford and at 137 Guilford we found two turtle doves in the home’s front window. It was noted that there has been lots of news lately about inflation and “affordability.” For 42 years, PNC has calculated the prices of the 12 gifts in the carol as “The PNC Christmas Price Index^® as a fun holiday tradition that shows the current cost for one set of each of the gifts. It is similar to the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which measures the changing prices of goods and services like housing, food, clothing, transportation, and is a fun way to measure trends in consumer spending.

PNC Bank says the total cost of the gifts this year would be $51,476.12, up 4.5% from last year. Last year the cost was up 5.4% from 2023, so there’s a little improvement. The prices are affected mostly by labor costs for personal services, like those of lords, pipers, and drummers. PNC says a partridge in a pear tree goes for $420. Two turtle doves are $750. Three French hens are $346. Four calling birds are $600. Five golden rings are $1,650 (up 32.5% versus last year). Six geese a laying are $930. Seven swans a swimming are $13,125. Eight maids a milking are only $58. Nine ladies dancing are $8,857. Ten lords a leaping are the most expensive at $16,836 (It was felt there may be some gender wage discrimination going on here). Eleven pipers piping are $3,797, and twelve drummers drumming are $4,106.

We emerged on Highland and soon found a partridge in a sparkling pear tree in a front window, and then nine ladies dancing, eight maids a milking, four calling birds, and three French hens (drawn by the house’s three children). We turned up Caperton Avenue and found five golden rings, seven swans swimming, and six geese a-laying. We arrived at Sheridan Avenue searching for ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming. Going back towards Highland, we found them in more windows.

Our search and walk were complete. It was time to go home to continue our holidays, and we did it with appreciation for the services of the Piedmont Police and Fire Departments’ fine people, as well as the Highland, Guilford, Caperton, and Sheridan homeowners’ window holiday gifts, and walking and being together.

Hope your Holidays are going great!