{"id":290,"date":"2018-01-03T11:29:01","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T16:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?p=290"},"modified":"2018-01-03T18:32:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T23:32:00","slug":"the-eighth-day-of-christmas-eight-maids-a-milking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?p=290","title":{"rendered":"The Eighth Day of Christmas: Eight Maids a-Milking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Milk maids have been a motif in art for centuries, reaching a status normally reserved for unicorns and other mythical beings. They were used to show health and beauty and wholesomeness, which is probably why they are the first human in the song. Some people theorize that it\u2019s a transference of the purity of the milk onto the gatherer. Others argue that it\u2019s because milk maids weren\u2019t ravaged by the pox diseases that afflicted the rest of the population, a feat almost magical when observed at the time, but has since revolutionized our world.<\/p>\n

Everyone who worked closely with cows understood that if they had caught the mild cow pox, they would not need to fear small pox outbreaks. Eventually, Western doctors caught on as well, and vaccines became available (vaccine after the Latin for cow).<\/p>\n

On the sixth day, I thought about defenses and how they can hurt us instead of helping us. Today, I am thinking of inoculations against bad habits and that old saw \u2018an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure\u2019.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to put things off until they become urgent, or a \u2018fire\u2019 that needs immediate attention. It\u2019s easy to see a rotting porch stair and use it daily thinking \u2018that\u2019s going to need to be replaced\u2019 and not actually do anything until it finally breaks and you have no choice but to fix it right away. Or to ignore a car trouble because you don\u2019t have the time or money at the moment, so you end up stranded with more time and money issues than if you had scheduled an appointment. We can \u2018vaccinate\u2019 against these issues by recognizing them and doing the small thing we want to avoid now when we can\u00a0 to avoid being forced to do the large thing at it\u2019s chosen time later.<\/p>\n

So, when I think of milk maids milking, I will think of those annoying things I could put off until I have no choice, and see if I can stop avoiding them and fit them in now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Back<\/a>\u00a0to introduction.
\nForward\u00a0<\/a>to Nine.<\/p>\n

Note Bene: The Chinese have a published report from 1549 mentioning that they had discovered a small pox vaccination. It was common practice in the Middle East as well. Neither mentions milk maids.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Milk maids have been a motif in art for centuries, reaching a status normally reserved for unicorns and other mythical beings. They were used to show health and beauty and wholesomeness, which is probably why they are the first human in the song. Some people theorize that it\u2019s a transference of the purity of … Continue reading The Eighth Day of Christmas: Eight Maids a-Milking<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"1","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"2","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"2","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"2","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45,44],"tags":[52,51,48],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-meditation","tag-12-days-of-christmas","tag-christmas-meditation","tag-twelve-days"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5HEA6-4G","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":297,"url":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?p=297","url_meta":{"origin":290,"position":0},"title":"The Ninth Day of Christmas: Nine Ladies Dancing","author":"Gina Kleinmartin","date":"January 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 When I was little, my mind always pictured the last four gifts being more of a party than individual gifts. 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Last night was Twelfth Night (which yes, Shakespeare named a play after, and was supposed to be performed on the last night of Christmas) \u00a0and we spent it with friends,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "health"","block_context":{"text":"health","link":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?cat=45"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":303,"url":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?p=303","url_meta":{"origin":290,"position":3},"title":"The Tenth Day of Christmas: Ten Lords a-Leaping","author":"Gina Kleinmartin","date":"January 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 I could talk again about the wonderful party I imagined as a child the lords and ladies, pipers and drummers were having over the last few days of Christmas. But there is no need to talk about healthy movement just a day later. So instead of thinking of ballet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "health"","block_context":{"text":"health","link":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?cat=45"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lord-leap-300x211.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?p=311","url_meta":{"origin":290,"position":4},"title":"The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Twelve Drummers Drumming","author":"Gina Kleinmartin","date":"January 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This last day of Christmas has me thinking about the drummers, and how important it is to follow a rhythm. For many of us, we spend our time chasing emergencies and urgent things that have to be done right now, leaving us little time to breathe let alone get the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "health"","block_context":{"text":"health","link":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?cat=45"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/drum-drum-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/homesteadinginthecity.kleinmartin.com\/?p=287","url_meta":{"origin":290,"position":5},"title":"The Seventh Day of Christmas: Seven Swans a-Swimming","author":"Gina Kleinmartin","date":"January 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The other day, I was driving our son through a nice Christmas snow so he could volunteer at the museum, and he said, \u2018you know, mom, everything is pretty with snow on it.\u2019 I agreed. The world is so beautiful when covered with snow. 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