DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Christmas time is right around that corner, so why not a graphic to celebrate the origins of the Christmas tree? This graphic, created by All in One Garden & Leisure , gives a rather unique look at the tree’s beginnings and its, for lack of better words,   a journey through time.    One of the interesting stats presented by the graphic is the number of households who choose to put an artificial tree up versus a real tree taken right out of the forest (or jungle if you’re celebrating Christmas in South Africa). The pie charts in the graphic demonstrate that more people in the U.S. opt to go with a natural tree then their fellow tree buyers in the U.K. My gut reaction when I saw that stat was, “I wonder how many trees are actually grown the U.K.? Doesn’t seem like there is nearly as much land.” And sure enough, my question was answered right below that. As I suspected, there are more trees (many, many more trees actually) grown in the U.S. then there are grown in Grea

  San Miguel de Allende was founded in 1542 by Fray Juan de San Miguel when he built a mission to serve the many Indian groups in the area. It became known as San Miguel el Grande. The main church in town is the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel. Naturally the town takes great pride in celebrating the Feast Day of San Miguel, the patron saint. San Miguel de Allende can put on some great Fiestas and for this one they go all out. The feast day of San Miguel is September 29 but the actual celebration can last a week or more. The modern custom is to have the major part of the Fiesta on the weekend following Sept. 29 but the actual day is also celebrated.    San Miguel, or Saint Michael the Archangel as he is known to the English speaking world, is noted for his warrior role. When Lucifer revolted against the rule of God it was San Miguel Archangel who was sent to do battle with Lucifer and banish him to Hades. San Miguel is often invoked as a protector for troops going into battle