How do these hearts unfold
Dec. 26th, 2023 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12This is the third time Matthias and I spent Christmas at home together (as opposed to travelling to visit one of our respective families), and the first time this was done entirely by choice. In 2020, it was the first lockdown Christmas, and it also coincided with us moving house, and the attendant logistical chaos that ensued. In 2021, we were meant to go to Germany, but in the days before we were due to travel, various Covid testing and quarantining requirements were imposed, which rendered our plans impossible — so we stayed home. That year, our fridge broke down, and we had to contend with dealing with that — lots of perishable food ended up being stored in iceboxes outdoors; thankfully it was quite a cold winter. So, in a sense, this is the first Christmas since my childhood that I have spent doing exactly what I wanted to do, with no unexpected dramas to deal with.
How do I spend this time when it's entirely within my control? I read (both books and Yuletide fic), Matthias and I watch cosy TV together, I do lots of yoga, and, above all, I cook. We ate cold seafood, fresh raw vegetables, pickles, and fresh bread on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day I roasted a cockerel, plus roast vegetables, kale fried with leeks, handmade gravy and cranberry sauce made to a recipe handwritten by my dad at some point in the 1980s and sent to me as a photo by my mum. A lifetime of deciphering my parents' incomprehensible handwriting ended up serving me well during my time in academia, whenever I had to do paleography, that's for sure! In any case, as intended, we only ate a fraction of the cockerel last night, and the rest has already been segmented up for future meals (I assess we'll probably get three or four more from what remains), and the bones set aside to make stock. Tonight, we'll eat various cheeses, chutney, and crackers, with some red wine.
Today, we went for a longer walk along the river. The sky was clear, the weather was warm, and the path and parks were full of other people taking advantage of all this — families with young children testing out new bikes or scooters, dog-walkers, joggers, watched by flocks of geese floating placidly on the river. The smokey smell of the houseboats was friendly and inviting. We wound our way back towards town, and finished the morning off with hot drinks at the coffee rig in the market square, blinking in the bright sunshine. I've put together a little photoset covering the past three days, on Instagram.
Slowly, over the next few days, our world will open up, with swims at the pool, a longer walk with some local friends and their hiking group, New Year's Eve festivities, and so on. I already feel extremely refreshed, and incredibly happy to have been able to carve out this little space to pause, and rest.
How do I spend this time when it's entirely within my control? I read (both books and Yuletide fic), Matthias and I watch cosy TV together, I do lots of yoga, and, above all, I cook. We ate cold seafood, fresh raw vegetables, pickles, and fresh bread on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day I roasted a cockerel, plus roast vegetables, kale fried with leeks, handmade gravy and cranberry sauce made to a recipe handwritten by my dad at some point in the 1980s and sent to me as a photo by my mum. A lifetime of deciphering my parents' incomprehensible handwriting ended up serving me well during my time in academia, whenever I had to do paleography, that's for sure! In any case, as intended, we only ate a fraction of the cockerel last night, and the rest has already been segmented up for future meals (I assess we'll probably get three or four more from what remains), and the bones set aside to make stock. Tonight, we'll eat various cheeses, chutney, and crackers, with some red wine.
Today, we went for a longer walk along the river. The sky was clear, the weather was warm, and the path and parks were full of other people taking advantage of all this — families with young children testing out new bikes or scooters, dog-walkers, joggers, watched by flocks of geese floating placidly on the river. The smokey smell of the houseboats was friendly and inviting. We wound our way back towards town, and finished the morning off with hot drinks at the coffee rig in the market square, blinking in the bright sunshine. I've put together a little photoset covering the past three days, on Instagram.
Slowly, over the next few days, our world will open up, with swims at the pool, a longer walk with some local friends and their hiking group, New Year's Eve festivities, and so on. I already feel extremely refreshed, and incredibly happy to have been able to carve out this little space to pause, and rest.
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Date: 2023-12-26 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-27 03:38 pm (UTC)