WHAT I'M READING - CHRISTMAS IN SCANDINAVIA (2020/1)

Hello, friends!  I hope you are all doing well.  I have been fighting a migraine for the past few days.  One of the worst I have had for several years.  I called my sister the pharmacy tech and asked her what to do.  She suggested items I did not have in the house.  But... my next-door neighbor said she had some Excedrin Migraine medicine and put some in a sandwich bag between my doors for me.  One of them knocked it out of me in about 90 minutes.  What a relief.  I still have a headache each day but not that bad of one.  I don't know if it is from allergies, high blood pressure or the new medication I am taking.  It might even be from my eyes since I am having difficulty with my glasses.  I accidentally bent the frames.  Or my hair falling in my face all the time.  I was going to get my hair cut right before Easter.  Well, you see where that went.  I am thinking about taking a pair of scissors and cutting it myself.  I've done it in the past.

Having a headache, and before that being on medication that made me sleep all the time, I haven't been reading all that much.  And I really haven't had the time to read either.  But I finally finished one book.

Years ago I belonged to a Christmas Around the World book club from World Book Encyclopedia.  For about 25 years I received a book each fall telling about Christmas in a different country.  I still have all of them and when I want a "feel good" book I will pull one of them off of the shelf and read it.  Is there a better time to want to read a feel good book?  So the one I chose to read was "Christmas in Scandinavia" from 1976.

You can see the beautiful woodcut designs on the front cover.  They are scattered throughout the book also.

The book begins by saying "Winter in Scandinavia is a gloomy time of darkness and piercing cold.  Lakes and streams freeze solid, snow lies heavy on blue-black firs and silver birches, and drifts high against houses.  Icicles hang in thick fringes from the eaves, and a warm, brightly lit home offers a welcome haven."  Doesn't that just paint a beautiful picture in your mind?

At the end of this first chapter it says, "The coming of the Christmas season today with its lights, decorations, and traditional foods brings a much needed respite from the rigors of winter and the fervent longing for spring.  A feeling of gaiety, it is a time of well-deserved leisure and fun, of feasting, parties, music and dancing, of visiting friends and relatives -- illuminated by glowing candles, firelight reflecting on polished copper and pewter, and fresh flowers -- contrasting sharply with the menacing darkness outside."

And it goes on just as beautifully throughout the book.  The chapters are:
Lighting up the dark
Lucia's day
The pre-Christmas whirl -- Shops, markets, and fairs; The Danish Christmas plates; The Christmas Seal tradition
The Christmas tree
The goblins of Christmas -- Christmas is for the birds!
From candles to bonfires
For a joyous Scandinavian Christmas...

And what beautiful photos it has.

The Christmas goat is a popular symbol of the season.  Here is a picture of one from a Christmas craft fair.

St. Lucia's Day opens the Christmas season.  Here's a cute little Lucia girl bringing breakfast of tea and Lucia buns to her parents.

At the end of the book is a section with things to make, things to eat, and Carols to sing.  Again beautiful woodcuts at the top of these pages.

Each book also comes with an Advent Calendar and six recipe cards.

I have three other books I am in the middle of.  If only I had time to read.  I am headed to the cardiologist today for my regular checkup.  I have to wear a mask, but otherwise everything is the same.  I know I will have to wait, so this might be the perfect time to pull out one of those books and get some reading in.  If my headache isn't too bad, that is.

And with that I have to leave and get myself ready to go.  I hope you all have a great day.

Until later...

Kathy