The Yuletide Excursion

Just a little something for the Holidays. I promise not too long this time.

Penny walked through the door of the cabin to find Leonard sitting on the large sofa across from the fireplace. A large fire was already burning and she could smell the sweet aroma of mulled cider. As she shed her winter coat and mittens, a shiver overtook her. Quickly hanging her coat on a hook by the door she made her way to the sofa and reached over her husband's shoulders and down into his shirt as she kissed his cheek. "Hi Sweetie, sorry I'm late".

Leonard practically jumped off the sofa. "GEEZ! Your hands are like ICE!"

Penny walked to the firerplace and held out her hands to the warmth giggling. "It's cold outside silly. I TOLD you it was like this in Nebraska in the middle of December. It wasn't my idea to take that visiting professor job".

Leonard joined his wife by the fire. "As I recall, it was YOUR company that wanted YOU to get this new sales division off the ground."

Penny lifted her blouse and unbuckled her pants turning and lowering her pants to warm her behind. "You didn"t have to say yes when I asked to come here."

Leonard frowned as he listened and watched his wife warm her rear end. "It's your first job after your promotion". He looked again as his wife warmed by the fire. "And you are going to get them to get you a car with seat warmers". He then thought. "Or I could warm you up".

Penny pulled up her pants. "It was more of an end of year bonus than a promotion. It was more like nobody else wanted to come out here in the middle of winter and we haven't been home in a while." She saw the sly look on her husband's face. "I'll be right back." Penny then went down the hall to their room.

Leonard was now hopeful of what might happen next. He quickly went to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. Once he returned to the living room, he poured the wine into the glasses and placeef them on an end table and sat on the sofa.

Penny came back into the room to the wide eyes of her husband. "Oooh, wine and a nice fire, how romantic."

Leonard was speechless. Penny came and sat next to him. She was wearing her full length flannel pajamas, pants and top along with a pair of hello kitty slippers. She reached up and took the comforter from the back of the couch and wrapped in it. Penny then looked at Leonard. "Okay Sweetie, warm me up."

Leonard had no better idea than to just wrap his arms around his wife. Penny smiled and snuggled into his shoulder after giving him a kiss on the cheek. "There, all comfy cozy"!

Penny sighed. "I got a text from Amy today. She wanted to know if they could come out for the holidays."

Leonard looked down at his wife and frowned. "I was hoping for a cooper free Holiday."

Penny sat up. "What about all that stuff you said about Saturnalia?"

Leonard looked at Penny. "Actually, Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. Being that we are in Nebraska, and the region was primarily settled by European Germanic peoples, we are celebrating Yuletide."

Penny scrunched her nose. "What's the difference?"

Leonard smiled. "Let's see if I remember." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "In Roman mythology, Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in the Golden Age, when humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labor in a state of innocence. The revelries of Saturnalia were supposed to reflect the conditions of the lost mythical age. Saturnalia is also the holiday, in which people, during the winter, conserved the kindling of mother nature by bringing evergreens into their home. "

He easily could see that Penny was not grasping much. "Yule was an indigenous midwinter festival celebrated by the Germanic peoples. Yuletide was and is a festival observed for the celebration of the god Odin. The first toast was drunk to Odin for victory and power to the King. The second to the gods Njordr and Freyer for good harvests and peace. There was also an Anglo-Saxon event that focused on collective female beings on what is now Christmas Eve that has been seen as further evidence of a fertility event during the midwinter Yule period."

Penny frowned. "What?"

Leonard smiled. "It's a big party, LOTS of fun. Christmas trees, drinks, lots of food and... its a party!"

Penny smiled. "That's what I was getting at. We're here anyway. And they want to come, OOOHH I know, we could have it here at the cabin! Have Mom and Dad come here instead of at the farm... PLEASE! it'll be so much fun!" She could easily see that Leonard was not going to be easily swayed. "Oh c'mon, how bad could it be? It will be like the olden days. Amy will love it. The cabin is even made of logs. and we could pretend that we're the Log Cabin in the Woods."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Little house on the Prairie"

Penny huffed. "Yeah except that this cabin isn't so little and there isn't any prairie around here, just woods. So anyway, we can bring some board games to keep Sheldon amused, and we could make snow angels. You know it's beautiful up here at night and SO quiet!"

Leonard smiled. "Well Sheldon IS easily distracted. But we are NOT playing Never Have I Ever. The last time we did that with Amy and Sheldon in a cabin in the woods it started an argument." He saw Penny's eyes light up. "And as for quiet, Were you even listening to yourself last night?"

Penny blushed. "Awww c'mon. I can be quiet."

Leonard now was the one frowning. "Sheldon caught in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in NEBRASKA, in the COLD, Without his electronics."

Penny giggled. "Yeah, fun! Besides, Since Dad let them put that Cell tower up on the ridge, and you keep making your Lab Top a hot spot charging the batteries in the car we're not off the grid anymore. Dad has a generator. All we need is to get some gas to run it."

Penny suddenly became very animated. "We have to go chop down a tree. We can put it in the corner away from the fireplace. And we can put boughs of Holly and Pine around. With all the candles and oil lamps it will be so pretty! We'll have everyone here for Christmas Dinner. It'll be GREAT! You'll see. Dad probably has some Venison and Rabbit. Mom will bake some pies. We have the big fireplace. Randle will probably bring some hootch. Denise and Frank and Benny will help! Hey can bring some ribbons and decorations."

Leonard hugged Penny. "You do realize that Yuletide extends for two months."

Penny looked slightly horrified. "TWO MONTHS!? I thought there were only twelve DAYS to Christmas!"