Last night (Jan 6th) was Epifania, the Italian Christmas.
Lil Dy got her socks filled with clementines and nuts by Befana, a witch who flies around the world giving goodies to good children and coal to the bad ones.
There are a couple of different versions of the Befana story, but here is my favorite version:
Legend has it that the wise men on their way to see the Nativity stopped by Befana’s house to ask for directions. She didn’t know and the men went on their way, but not before inviting her along for the trip. Befana had some cleaning to do and so opted to not go along- but after they left she had second thoughts and rushed out to find the wise men and the Christ child. She never found him. It was far away and she was completely lost, so she started giving small treats to every child she met, in the hopes she’d hit the right one. So now, once a year, for ALL OF ETERNITY, she gives candy to all the good children. I’m not sure what her motivation is, whether she thinks she’s going to find the Second Coming that way or something, or maybe she’s still on her original search, or maybe she knows and now she is on a different mission to reward the good and punish the bad. But the desperation of Befana and her refusal to give up appeals to my Japanese nature. Plus I have a soft spot for the undead.