I think for a lot of people, myself included, Christmases start to blend into one another and become one big fat candy cane and irredecent ribbon memory.
Of course, there stands out a few memorable ones. Like the year you got the doll you'd been wishing and praying and dreaming about- the one your parents said was more than likely too expensive for the family to afford that year. Or the year you snuck a little too much Baileys into your hot cocoa and really had a good time. Or the year Dagmar came and sent the whole house back about 60 years.
Christmas 2011 will forever be remembered as the year of no power.
For starters, I packed my camera bag with two (2!) dead batteries and was able to take about 3 pictures before being without a foto apparat (that's the Norwegian word for camera- photo apparatus!) for all of Christmas eve, day, and boxing day. Good planning, Siri! And then Dagmar arrived. She was the strongest storm to hit Norway in the past 30 years, leaving hundreds of thousands of west coast homes without power, tall-masted ships tossed onto dry land, and every tenth tree ripped up from it's roots. Needless to say, she left my in-laws house with a thick coating of salt and no power for much of Christmas day and boxing day. But instead of crying, "why me?! why on Christmas?!", we just stripped down to the basics. Our morning (and midmorning, and afternoon, and evening) coffee was cooked on the storm kitchen, our dinner baked in the fireplace, Lasse bathed on the kitchen floor by candle light, and our regular evening tv- viewing replaced with Glenfidich and old fashioned coversation.
And it was nice. It was cozy. It was the way Christmas should be.
Your comment that it was the way Christmas should be is so true. The last picture is a work of art. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you from all of us. Are there any New Years traditions we should consider.
Bob
Posted by: Bob | December 30, 2011 at 04:06 AM
Sounds rather lovely.
A belated Merry Christmas to you.
Posted by: Wendy | December 30, 2011 at 09:20 AM
Relaxing Christmas, and I wish I'd been there!
Posted by: Mormor | January 01, 2012 at 12:50 AM
I love this post, Siri!
Is that white shirt yours or Lasse's?
Looks pretty small....and a BLACK tie?
I hope you had plenty of firewood to keep you warm without electricity. I remember bathing in a galvinized tub in front of my Grandma's cookstove. And....with my Norwegian-American aunts and uncles and grandparents lots and lots of coffee and cookies. In fact, eating our way through the days.
I found your recipe for Pepperkakor muffins and made them for Christmas Day breakfast.
Could I please have your permission to post the recipe on my tiny blog? I just ate the last one right now while typing. It's even more delicious cold with lots of butter!
That recipe is definitely a keeper!
Happy New to the little family in Norway!
Posted by: Caterina B | January 01, 2012 at 06:28 PM
Bob- I like that last one too. The only thing I can say about New Years in Norway is that most people stay in and there's no ball drop. I think a lot of people take advantage of the holiday so close to Christmas to make a repeat of the Christmas Eve dinner- we had Beef Bourguignon, though. Oh, and kids go trick or treating!
Caterina- Thanks! Lasse was a little gentleman on Christmas eve with tuxedo shirt, black silk bow tie, tuxedo pants and cummerbund. No fancy shoes, though. He outgrew those! Sure, go ahead and use the muffin recipe. Glad you liked it!
Posted by: siri | January 02, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Hope you post a photo of Lasse in his tuxedo. I'll bet he was extremely handsome. I suspected the shirt was his but somehow, he can't be that big yet. It's fun to dress up one's children while they will still let you do it. Or...until they realize what Mom's doing! I have photos of my daughter at two in a handsmocked dress and big satin hairbow. Now she would never wear anything so fancy.
Posted by: Caterina B | January 02, 2012 at 06:57 PM
I heard about the storm Dagmar and saw pictures of the devastation on the net. It's terrible, and with the holiday spirit dampened in its wake, it must have been a Christmas and New Year to remember for a different reason. In any case, weather like that does force us to make do with what we have, and serve as a lesson to prepare ourselves and our homes.
Posted by: William Gulliver | January 26, 2012 at 02:53 PM