I think that this time of the year deserves it's own (slightly off-topic) topic.
This first message is music-related: today is the first day of a period that ends at epiphany. During this period the so called midwinter-horn is blown in the east of The Netherlands and the adjoining part of Germany. Somewhere (early) this morning, the first farmer in this part of The Netherlands / Germany gets his horn and start playing while holding his horn above a well in order to amplify the sound.
Under these conditions and especially when it is foggy wheather, this sound can be heard at distances of several miles. As soon as the sound is heard by other players, they start to play and thus join in. In this way a network of sound is built up, covering a part of The Netherlands and Germany. It is great to hear this sound and listen to the increasing amount of "replies".
This tradition dates back to mediaeval times (or even pre-history?). The first written report about midwinter-horn blowing, dates back to 1485 (7 B.C., where C=Columbus). It is assumed that originally this tradition relates to the pre-historic celebration of the solstice, which was "converted" in Christian times to Christmas.
Have a look at some more pictures below and listen to sound samples at:
http://members.home.nl/belave/midwinterhoorn.wav
and
http://home.wxs.nl/~kuipe351/Geluid/Midwinterhoorn.wma
