Coded green.

Monday 24 December 2001

Decorated table

Pic of the day: Preparing for the feast.

Getting all I wanted

All I wanted was for her to understand what I meant by doing what I did. I got that, and so much more. Today, Christmas Eve, is also boxing day in Norway, when we give and receive gifts. Sometimes the greatest gift is seeing your own gift received the way you meant it.

I don't need to be forgiven
for loving you so much;
it's written in the Scriptures,
it's written there in blood;
I even heard an angel
declare it from above:
There ain't no cure,
there ain't no cure,
there ain't no cure for love.

Leonard Cohen

***

We had finished shopping, except that two young girls wanted to wait until after Christmas, so I was to get them a gift card at the mall. I also wanted myself a new pair of shoes; shoes are things I wear down, being a very "walkative" person. And the ones I wore now were no longer in holiday cheer, so to speak.

I didn't need to spend all day in the mall for that, so I went in an hour before closing time, and still had time to look at life, before the car showed up to fetch the "Lil" Super girl (18) who now works in the mall. (There is a kind of succession here. SuperWoman's sister-in-love worked there, then Cutie, and now this one. Boy do they get some clothes cheap. And it's a big shop too.)

Meanwhile, SuperWoman was at another hairstylist and got the bright red strands toned down. They are still red, but now tending more toward chestnut, and blending more gradually with the rest of her hair. She feels a lot better about this, despite protestations from her family that they don't see much difference.

And then it was Christmas Eve, the single greatest day of the year here in Norway.

***

We had rice porridge, a truly bland meal to keep the hunger at bay until the full-blown feast later in the evening. There is a funny tradition to put an almond in the porridge, and whoever gets the almond is rewarded with a snack. Traditionally this was a marzipan (?) pig. (A confectionary made from finely ground almonds and lots of powdery sugar mostly.) Anyway, the last few years we have been unable to locate such a pig, because we start looking for it too late. But we buy some other object of the same stuff. Last year SuperWoman got the almond, but she wasn't there today. The year before I got it, and the year before that I got it too. Today I got it. There were like a dozen people all together, and there was some groaning about me using my powers for personal gain. I did not, of course. I just happened to be late to the table, and the bowl with the almond was the closest. I gave away most of the snacks anyway.

A car went to church, but found it packed, not a seat left, so returned. The rest of the years, the churches are mostly empty.

As dinner time approached, Cutie had to go fetch her bag. This is a story in itself. She studies in Denmark now, and on her way home for the holiday she had a brand new bag. Somehow this was similar enough to another woman's bag that this lady from Gothenburg took the wrong bag when she left. She called shortly thereafter and Cutie sent the other bag to Gothenburg. But her bag, with all her clothes for the holiday, spent 3 days in the system before it was sent with another bus. This was late at Christmas Eve when not even the bus station is open, so Cutie had to wait for it at the end station. Her father and Lil-Super kept her company. As time went on and GEM had the night watch at her midwife job, we started the dinner without the Pater Familias. This did not go down exceedingly well when he showed up 10 minutes later. But these are highly civilized and somewhat God-fearing people, so no one was physically hurt. Still, I think there was some emotional pain involved. Life is full of hard decisions and incomplete information, is it not?

***

Shortly after dinner, we sat down to open the Christmas gifts. As usual there was quite a heap of them, though slightly fewer than before. Two of the sons were with their new families now. (On the other hand, Old Friend and her husband was here with their two kids. These got the largest packets, mostly. They seemed most interested in the wrapping and strings. This is the way most Christians approach the Gospel too, so I guess it fit in nicely with the rest of the Christmas traditions.)

The woman I love sat down beside me in the couch. Very close. I did not exactly move away either, to put it that way. I am not so spiritual that I don't appreciate a warm thigh against mine, and perhaps a shoulder. I found out however that I am so spiritual (or old, perhaps) that I didn't develop an "embarassment" (to put it in Adventist parlance). But boy did it feel good to snuggle close to a woman I love. I wished I could make a habit of it. But I can't. The winds of change are always blowing, and bla bla. But for now, it was all I wanted and more than I had any right to hope for.

I got two shirts, a vest (in my favorite colors, or very nearly so) and a pair of socks. But most of all I got a lot of smiles. And the best was from "my beloved" SuperWoman. She understood, as usual. And that is all I wanted, and more than I could reasonably expect.

Life is good.


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