In the spirit of Christmas--a little treasure from my childhood

Enjoy!

Birds having a pow-wow

A gray day today, and rather chilly, but that didn't stop the birds from having a pow-wow in the tree that you can see from our kitchen window. I used my telephoto lens to get a close-up view of this important meeting. If you look carefully at the topmost branch on the left, you'll see a bird leaning down toward the other birds, almost as though he had something to say or as though he was listening to the others. As I've said so many times before, birds rule. I have no idea why they do what they do, just that I enjoy watching them do what it is they want to do. Why they were all gathered in this one tree is a mystery; perhaps they were planning their migratory activities, if indeed these are migratory birds. I'm not sure what kind of birds they are either. What I do know was that they were chirping and singing and having a great time.

After a few days of searching the web for what kind of birds they might be, I think these are Bohemian waxwings (sidensvanser in Norwegian). You can check out this link for more information on them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_waxwing   They are migratory birds. 

Christmas potpourri

So many wonderful fragrances and colors at Christmas time, starting with the wonderful evergreen fragrance that emanates from the Christmas tree. Every time you walk through the front door, the first smell you smell is the Christmas tree. This year there were several new ornaments that joined the ornament fold, and they were a welcome sight on the tree.

And then there are the Christmas flowers--amaryllises and poinsettias--so beautiful to look at as they grow and flower during December. This year our three amaryllises had three different colors, white, red, and white with red stripes.

My indoor orange tree produced over sixty small oranges this year; the tree 'casts' the oranges to the floor when they are ripe, quite funny to witness and to listen to when sitting in our living room, as you can hear them rolling along the floor before they hit a piece of furniture. These small fragrant oranges find their way into the smoothies we make each morning.

And as far as fragrances go, I have to mention the Christmas food--especially the smell of boneless pork ribs rolled in and roasted together with garlic, fennel seed, rosemary, sage and thyme that we ate for dinner on Christmas Day, served together with a potpourri of vegetables (eggplant, squash cherry tomatoes, and potatoes). The pork tasted as good as it smelled while roasting in the oven.

Also made duck with orange sauce for Christmas Eve, served together with asparagus, broccoli and orange pieces; it too was very good and very colorful.

Other dinners have included boiled cod one evening, and elk steak another evening, and we're not done yet--my husband will be making salted sheep ribs for New Year's Eve. We've eaten some good cakes and desserts as well--Italian panettone, homemade gingerbread cookies, and orange mousse, among others.

Always a special time of year--Christmas with its food, desserts, trees, ornaments, decorations and flowers. We prepare for it, we enjoy its coming, and we accept its passing, because it moves us into a new year with fresh expectations and challenges. The Christmas season is about honoring our individual traditions (in our home, both American and Norwegian), our family heritage, home and family, our faith, as well as about visits with friends, and having the time to enjoy and to truly appreciate them all.

Christmas in Oslo

The Norwegian Opera House

Downtown area near the waterfront

Oslo waterfront

Christmas tree at the University of Oslo

I've been taking a lot of photos lately, trying my hand at night photography. Believe me, it's not easy to get good night shots without a tripod. If you don't have your tripod with you, then you need to steady the camera on a solid surface, and sometimes that works out. Some of my night shots were satisfactory. I wanted to share them with you because I want you to see how the Norwegians deal with the intense darkness that descends upon their country in winter. The darkness envelopes you, there is no other way to describe it. It can be an uncomfortable feeling in the beginning of your stay here. So the lights go on in most buildings and they often stay on, even after work hours, creating a warming and comforting feeling when you look at them. 

We were at the Norwegian Opera House recently to see The Nutcracker, which has become an annual tradition for us. I liked the tree and the lighting, so I decided to come back and take some photos of the building and the waterfront. And then I was at the University of Oslo tonight to take photos of the newly-renovated Science Library, and I saw the Christmas tree and the lit buildings, and I had to snap them too. There is something magical about the lighting and the effect it creates inside of you. Thus, winter has its unique charm and beauty despite the darkness. When the snow comes, the darkness loses its intensity, so it is one reason to look forward to snow. 

Christmas at the Mall (Sandvika Storsenter)

We were out shopping today for Christmas gifts at the largest mall in Scandinavia--Sandvika Storsenter. It is located to the west of Oslo and is a short drive from the city. It has a large wall aquarium, so I snapped a few shots of the fish, especially the ones who were curious about what was going on on my side of the glass that divided us. We were also in an electro-boutique--sells everything from computers to stoves to smoothie machines. Had to snap a few photos--I mean really--walls of ovens and washing machines! Norway is so different than when I moved here. It has everything now in the way of material goods, thanks to the wealth created by the oil money. Twenty-two years ago, you had only a few different types of stoves to choose from; now, you can't count the choices. Supermarkets--the same thing--it's hard to know what to buy sometimes. Abundance is the operative word--an abundance of everything.

It gets dark here early now, so by 3:30 pm, it is nighttime for all intents and purposes. So it was interesting to get some evening shots of all the Christmas lights and decorations. On the drive home to Oslo, we stopped at the harbor area so that I could take some photos of the Opera House and the surrounding area at night. I'll post some of those photos in a later post.

 

Oh Christmas Tree

Despite the difficulties and sadness of this past year (especially during the past few weeks), I am looking forward to Christmas, perhaps in part because of the difficulties and sadness. There has to be something joyful to look forward to. I know that there is—my faith tells me to wait and be patient. My heart and soul want the peace and joy of this Christmas season, and if I let them in they will take root there. I’ve opened the doors and am letting in the light of Christmas.

Setting up our Christmas tree always helps make the house a peaceful haven. I have old and new Christmas ornaments and they all have their turns on the tree. Each ornament has a history—one was a gift from a friend, one I bought at a Christmas store in San Francisco, another is from my mother, another from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and so forth. I remember how I got each one of them because it is my personal history dating back to when I was a teenager and started to buy or receive them. I collect Christmas tree ornaments and Christmas angels of all kinds. I love sitting in the dark with the lit and decorated Christmas tree in front of me. It’s peaceful in an indescribable way. I can remember back to when I was a child. I felt the same way then. I also remember being outdoors in the deep snow and finding a snow-laden evergreen tree, branches hanging down nearly to the ground. When they did that they created a kind of ‘cave’ to sit in—where I would sit and contemplate the peace around me. It never felt lonely to do that. I felt protected by the peace of the snow and the tree.

Each year my husband and I have the same conversation when we go to buy our tree—how big it should be and how high it should be, etc. He pushes somewhat for a smaller tree each year, whereas I still want a larger tree. We always end up with a tall medium-sized tree that has enough branch room to hang a fair amount of ornaments.  Maybe when we’re older we’ll go for a smaller tree, but for now, it’s nice with a larger one. It fills one area of our living room. My friend in upstate NY has a large tree this year as well; her husband dragged it from the car into the house commenting all the way that it was too big. I guess this must be a man thing—to comment on the size of the trees and to complain (a little bit) in general—or register some skepticism? But our tree is big this year—I used twenty-five feet of garland to decorate it (wrapping around the tree). That’s much more than I usually use.

Anyway, I am posting some photos of our tree and some ornaments. Enjoy! Have a joyful and peaceful Christmas! Take some time to sit with the tree……..