The week leading up to Christmas did not only see me putting up my Christmas tree, as described in my previous post. I also managed to get two good walks in.
On Monday, December 19, after my trains back from O.K.'s were both on time, I arrived at my flat at around 9:15 in the morning. At 3:00 pm I interrupted work for two hours, walking to Benningen and taking the local train back, then working for another while until I called it a day.
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| Arriving at the outskirts of Benningen. The sunset was much more colourful than what my mobile phone's camera picked up. |
Tuesday (Dec. 20) was much milder, which was good since I had to go to my client's office to work there, and they won't heat the building as good as in previous years so I am permanently cold there. I had another appointment in the same industrial estate that day, to look at facilities we will use in February for a meeting of our professional association. They invited me to have lunch at their beautiful canteen, and the rooms are really good for our purpose, so we're all set for February.
It rained on Wednesday (Dec. 21) morning, but then the sun came out, and it was spring-like at 11 Celsius (51.8 F). Working from home allowed me to schedule my day more or less as I pleased, and you know what I had in mind - another walk, of course! I walked to Benningen once more, but on my "lower" route (I have an "upper" and a "lower" route and usually alternate between the two; both are between 10 and 11 km). The light was incredibly beautiful; my pictures can not really do it justice. Look at the golden light and dark grey clouds and imagine this about twice as intense.
I found this day with its promise of spring and spectacular light very fitting for solstice.
Thursday (Dec. 22) was the final day of our Christmas market. For my lunch break, I met up with my sister for one last visit; we ate there and then ran some errands for our Mum before I went back to work. It rained later, so no walk.
It was again really mild on Friday (Dec. 23), and in spite of heavy clouds I walked for about 1.5 hours between work and cleaning my flat, catching some of the rain on the last bit of the walk.
And then it was Christmas Eve! At noon, I went to my Mum's for some cleaning and last preparations for the evening. My sister and I had lunch with her before the two of us walked to the cemetery to leave a mini Christmas tree and candles for our Dad and R.
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| Dad's bird with the mini tree and a poinsettia |
Back home, I had enough time to speak to O.K. on the phone, have a shower and change before going back to my Mum's for our actual Christmas Eve celebration. For the first time ever, there were only the three of us, and my Mum remarked on how poor the dining table looked, laid out for three instead of the usual five or six (and more in some years in the past).
Sunday - Christmas Day - was still warm and began sunny and bright. I rang Mary (my mother-in-law in Yorkshire), and we chatted for close to an hour before I went to my Mum's to help getting everything ready for the Christmas lunch she was hosting for us, R's brother and his partner who were here from Berlin not only to see R's family (and us) but also to wrap things up at R's flat; a sad and demanding task, emotionally as well as physically.
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| Can you believe the amount of Christmas presents I received? And that's without the ones from England (they have not yet arrived) and the ones from OK! |
At the cottage, we exchanged our gifts before sitting down for a light supper.
The week was over, but Christmas wasn't - not yet!
A poinsettia on your father's memorial ...
ReplyDeleteA different Christmas for you and your mother and sister.
I am glad you spoke to your mother-in-law by telephone but concerned to hear that you are cold in your client's office.
Keep an eye on the thermometer. By law you have the right to a warm working space.
Any one of us can contract pneumonia, viral being the most dangerous.
I have had pleurisy three or four times, and it can lead to pneumonia.
My mistake was to stand too long at the coffee counter in Waitrose chatting w/ friends.
Since lockdown I haven't had a chest infection and I have escaped Covid.
I have chicken soup with vegetables most nights (the Jewish penicillin) and I have not been on a plain, train or bus in three years.
Arnold Wesker's immigrant mother said chicken soup with barley saved her life during the Depression - see his play of the same name.
Stay warm, Meike.
You want to live long and enjoy those great walks and beautiful skies.
Correction: I meant to write Plane and not Plain.
Delete*Julie Andrews - The Rain in Spain (falls mainly on the Plain.)*
YouTube.
*My Fair Lady Rehearsal (1960) Julie Andrews.* YouTube.
Julie Andrews did a lovely recording of Kurt Weill's song My Ship.
The iconic recording is by Lotte Lenya who was married to Kurt Weill, both YouTube.
I guessed you meant plane and not plain, Jack.
DeleteSo far, I have escaped Covid, too, and apart from a little snivel here and there (often unclear how much of it is a reaction to the bad air quality in my area and how much due to a cold) have not been ill in years, either. But I can not avoid public transport altogether, as I depend on it for work and for my weekends at O.K.'s. FFP masks are still mandatory here on long-distance trains, and even if they weren't, I would still be wearing them.
Until it gets warmer, I will only go to work on-site when I have to; I can do nearly everything from home so there is rarely a real need for me to sit in a cold office.
The Rain in Spain was a firm favourite with me when I was about 12. We had it on an old record in my parents' stack, and loved the fun and silliness of it. But with all the fun and silliness, it is really not all that easy!
You too stay warm. You want to enjoy more books! (I wonder whether you know or can at least estimate how many you have read so far.)
Ronald Frame the Scottish novelist (Havisham, Time in Carnbeg) told me that he would rather have written one good song than all his novels & story collections.
DeleteHe has written his autobiography which is awaiting publication.
In America he met his publisher, Alfred A Knopf (1918-2000).
Like me Ronald admires trained singers such as Robert Goulet.
Robert Goulet If I Loved You in Carousel.
Medley: The Beauty of Words. My Cup Runneth Over (RG Collection).
Robert Goulet Playboy After Dark - Here's That Rainy Day.
RG & Paige O'Hara: You Don't Bring Me Flowers & I Won't Send Roses.
YouTube.
Looks very enjoyable! You must have been good all year to get so many presents! I was surprised that your Mom uses real candles on her tree but it does look pretty.
ReplyDeleteWe never had artificial lights on our tree until some years ago, and our tree never caught fire, no matter how many cats and small children were around.
DeleteI do try to be a good person, but not because I want presents :-)
I read this post and studied the December images and I read your previous post too. I love the old tree that your mum found in the charity shop. Once a tree is "dressed" its ugliness is hidden.
ReplyDeleteThank you for another year of friendship and mutual blog support, Neil!
DeleteIt's not the tree my Mum found at the charity shop, but the wrought iron stand. I'm afraid it is hard to really see it on my photos, but it is beautiful and old-fashioned (because it really IS old).
My Mum was at my place two nights ago when I hosted a family meal and remarked that she found the tree much nicer now that she saw it for real than what it had looked like in the photos.
Looks like a wonderful break. Happy New Year and best wishes!
ReplyDeleteHello Blogoratti, long time no see!
DeleteNot sure what you mean by break; I had the one day off (Boxing Day) and that was it. Happy New Year to you, too, and all the best!