Tag: christmas
Merry Christmas
Monochrome Monday 8-33
Take care!
Merry Christmas!!!
Lens-Artists Photo Challange 128: “And Here Comes the Holiday Season…”
Yep! Holiday season. A strange holiday season at the end of a strange year. I know, this year is strange for all of us, all over the world. Many families in many countries looking back in anger because of a personal loss. Lots of fear for many people: will I get infected? Will a family member get infected? And when having symptoms, the fear changes to “I hope, it’s something else”. And after a confirmed infection, this changes again. Now the question is “will I survives and will I recuperate completely”. I guess I can understand these feelings as I got tested in June in Iceland and waiting for the result was not enjoyable. Earlier this week my wife got tested because of an infection. She (we) had to wait about 30 hours for getting the result. It turned out, the test was negative, but instead, she was diagnosed with a lung infection – also not good, but better as COVID19.
In a ‘normal’ year, December is the worst month of the year. Besides the necessary Christmas-related happenings, I have 13 birthdays during December in my closer family circle plus the close friends. 8 of them are still upcoming, including mine. So, it’s a lot of stress to get all the necessary visits and festivities coordinated. The other thing is, in general, I don’t like the early start of Christmas decorations and products in the supermarkets (really, is it necessary to start end of September selling this stuff????) and playing the same 5 or 6 Christmas songs for months in the shops (yes, Band-Aid, Wham and Mariah Carey are among them 😫). Similar situation, when turning the radio on. Call me Mr. Grinch, but I can’t stand this anymore. Ok, ok, I’m not that extreme as Mr. Grinch. I don’t hate Christmas at all and I don’t try to ruin it for others. But, I don’t like how we are showered with music, decorations, smells, and so on for such a long time each year and always the same kind of stuff. This has nothing in common with the idea of Christmas.
OK, this year is different. No driving to work and working from home instead saves me from hearing these songs over-and-over again in the car (I’d need to commute 2 hours per day). I also try to avoid entering a shop as I’m one of those with a high risk for a dramatic course. Christmas shopping is done either online or I delegated it. Even all the birthday parties are skipped and there no necessity to attend an Advent or Christmas celebration in the office, society, or church. Staying home a lot. I even participated in my first ever virtual Christmas party organized by a lady from my department. It was nice and entertaining. Among other things, she had a Christmas-related quiz organized: 20 questions around Christmas. I had 10 correct answers (it would have been 12 if I would have followed my first idea and not corrected) and in the end, I ranked #13 out of 96. I guess that’s quite good despite the questions were sometimes very American and British. You could ask me, are there no happy feelings bound to Christmas? Sure, there are some 🙂
Here, we have a saying: Die Dosis macht das Gift (the dose makes the poison). Another one is “putting sugar in the honey”.
So, the grouching hour is over, Christmas season is around the corner. Here are a couple of Christmas related images from the past years. Btw. I want to tell you the greatest and most valuable Christmas present ever that I got: my daughter, my first child, was born the night before Christmas (Dec 23rd at about 22:00h). She really has Christmas spices in her blood! During December she’s always wearing a Santa Clause-like jelly bag cap either in red or in dark-blue with tons of little stars. But, both are having a white edge and pompon. Even her son has such a hat (he only has a red one). So, it’s quite funny to see them walking along the street like two of the dwarfs searching for Snowwhite.
In the past, I wrote a small series of posts on how Christmas and Advent look like here in Germany. Maybe your interested and check them out. They are all tagged with “Advent” and have “Cultural notes” in the subject.
So, thank you Ann-Christine for this wonderful theme, and forgive me for my grouching 😊
I wish you and your beloved a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2021!!
Take care!
A Joyful Advent
Monochrome Monday 6-36
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Monochrome Monday 6-35
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Cultural notes: The Christmas Game
Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Merry Christmas!
Joyeux Noël!
Vrolijk Kerstfeest!
Buon Natale!
Shinnen omedeto!
Feliz Navidad!
and for all the other people, too, everywhere on the world, regardless where you are and which your native language is: have a merry and peaceful Christmas.
Christmas is the time of giving gifts to (and receiving from) parents, partners, kids and friends. When all the gifts are laying below the Christmas tree, the kids usually attack their pile and unwrap their gifts in the shortest time, much faster, than you were able to warp them with beautiful paper and decorate them with bows and stickers. When having more than one kid, they all do it at the same time. And you, as the giver, can’t notice, if they are happy about the gift nor you can notice any reaction.
To calm down this chaos, we had an idea some years ago. Instead of giving each kid a pile of gifts to unwrap, we put them all on one single pile and attach a little batch with the name of the recipient. (You can certainly still put them on separate piles for a better overview). On the table we set up a game board (the first version was made of LEGO many years ago) with ~28 (8 + 6 + 8 + 6) fields. A figurine represents each family member(i.e. an angle, a toy-car, an anima or a small bell). Rolling a dice helps to move the figurines forward: one field for each dot shown on the upper side of the dice. Some of the fields have special meanings.
Our board has these icons on the fields:
- starting point = during the game an ordinary field with no special meaning
- at least one pausing point per side, represented by a hedgehog, a snail or a snowman (pausing for one round)
- roll the dice a second time, represented by a fox (1 – 2 times per side)
- moving 3 fields backward, represented by a hare or a rabbit (once per side)
- moving 3 fields forward, represented by a snow-ball, a bird or a squirrel (once per side)
- activity field represented by an owl (1 or 2 times per side)
- question field represented by a question mark (once per side)
- a Christmas tree is for fetching a gift from the pile and hand it over to the person named on the batch. Get a parcel without checking the name first. Take it, read the name on the batch and hand is over! (1 or 2 times per side).
The next person is allowed to roll the dice, not before the gift is completely unwrapped and everyone had the opportunity to see it.
The youngest kid is allowed to start with rolling the dice (or the oldest person or the one which first letter of the name cast first in the alphabet or the mother or the one with the highest number during a pre-round). Be creative!
The activity cards are put in two special fields in the inner part of the board with the text side turned down. They are parted in two piles: one for the question mark (more general questions = fact check) and one for the activity icon (more personal questions). The person which figurine arrives on an activity field gets a card from the pile, turns it around and reads it loud. Than, he or she has to follow the order on the card. Here are a few examples:
- sing a Christmas song (not mentioned earlier)
- play a Christmas song on your guitar, ukulele, violin, flute, … (not mentioned earlier)
- completing a given verse of a traditional Christmas song
- name a Christmas song containing a given lyrics line
- name 5 Christmas pop songs (not mentioned earlier)
- name 5 traditional Christmas songs (not mentioned earlier)
- recite a Christmas poem (not mentioned earlier)
- get someone a gift from the pile (in addition to the “Christmas tree” fields)
- name 5 Christmas movies (not mentioned earlier)
- remove all the paper from the ground and bring it to the correct bin
- read loud the Christmas Story from the Bible
- answer questions about the Christmas story
- your most favorite / worst Christmas gift ever
- ………. (this is to be filled by your own creativity)
When all activity cards are used, mix them and put them on their place again. Or, put each used card below the pile.
This way, everyone is able to see, what that person got and how she enjoys the gift. No-one is ready unpacking her pile of gifts too quickly and can pay each giver the necessary respect. It’s a family event instead of a single experience.
As you can see, the rules are very simple. Even a pre-school kid is able to follow the game. It’s fun, playing together and see the joy in each others eyes.
This is a good habit for our family, and maybe for you, too. Include the kids when preparing the game board and setting up the rules. Write the rules on the board. Decorate the board and the cards with Christmas related icons. Let each kid bring his or her favorite small figurine as her meeple.
We usually need about 1,5 to 2 hours for the game and the unpacking when having 5 player. It’s a lot of fun and very relaxing.
Now, you have 12 months to create you own game. I’d love the see your results. You can put your response in the comments below or create a blogpost on your own and leave me a back-ping.
Monochrome Monday 5-35 – Merry Christmas
Take care!
Cultural notes: Advent wreath
The time surrounding the 4 Sundays before Christmas are called Advent, meaning preparation, pleasant anticipation and expectation.
Back in the first half of the 19th century a protestant pastor got the idea to visualize these 4 Sundays until Christmas each with a candle mounted on a wreath made of fir twigs. Each Advent Sunday one of these candles is inflamed, while the candles of the past Sundays are still burning. So, you have one candle burning on the first Advent, two candles on the second Advent, three on the Third and all four candles on the fourth Advent. The christmas tree won’t be erected before Christmas Eve on December 24th (although many families do this earlier nowadays and don’t wait until December 24th).
Over the next years the idea spread over Germany and became about 100 years later common even in catholic regions. Nowadays you can find Advent Wreath in nearly every home, church and even many shops.
It’s also quite common, to put a few pine twigs with some decorations in the homes. The traditional colors of this time are green, red and yellow.
The green stands for live and hope, even in this dark and unfriendly time, when nature seems dead. Only firs and pines are green in this time of the year, so they are also a symbol. The burning candles are a symbol for Jesus, the light of the world. The other parts, like the color of the candles, the further decoration or the order for the inflammation of the candles are part of regional different rules. The shape of the wreath stands for eternity, because a ring has no end.
So, I wish you a happy, peaceful and joyful Advent time wherever you are and whatever tradition, country, religions or ethical group you belong to.
Have a great Advent time!
Monochrome Monday 5-34
Take care!
Cultural notes: Christmas market
Christmas markets have a long tradition here in Germany. The best known Christmas market is probably the “Christkindl’s Markt” in Nürnberg, Bavaria.
A Christmas market is not simply a modification of a regular farmers market. Other than a farmers market it opens at about 10 or 11 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. and instead of closing a noon, it stays open until about 8 p.m.
You can buy spices, fruits (during my childhood the Christmas market was the only source for buying oranges, mandarins and some other exotic fruits for the South). You can also buy candles and decoration stuff, but also some food to make you warm from the inside again or some alcoholic drinks like hot spices wine.
While the markets exist in the bigger cities from about mid November until December 23rd, they are set up only for the weekends in smaller cities. Sometimes even for only one day or one weekend. Even some farms set up Christmas markets. Often these farms grow Christmas trees and thus combine the Christmas tree sale with a small Christmas market to attract additional customers.
Have a great Advent time!
Cultural notes: Cookie time
Advent time is cookie time. In many private kitchens the oven has a hard time during the 4 weeks before Christmas. It’s time for baking Christmas cookies.
There are many receipts available for baking the special Christmas or Advent cookies. Every region has some specific specialities, while others are (nowadays) generally known in the whole country.
Have a great Advent time!
Cultural notes: Advent calendar
You know, Christmas is celebrated in December each year. This holiday is a memorial to the birth of Jesus from Nazareth and celebrated on December 25th in many countries. Because of his birth, his parents got gifts from the wise men coming to praise him. In that tradition, we also give gifts for Christmas to our beloved family members and maybe some tight friends.
Especially the kids are looking forward and are eager to know about the gifts they will get. To ease this waiting period, here in Germany, the kids (and also some adults) get an Advent calendar to shorten this waiting period.
Three years ago, I already wrote about Advent calendars and their history. So, jump back and have a look.
Have a great Advent time!
Throwback Thursday: picking raisins
Here we have a German saying: someone is simply picking the raisins. Such a guy is called a raisin-picker. What does this mean?
Raisins are dried grapes and often used as an ingredient for baking cakes, torte or bread or while cooking food. Despite, they don’t have much liquid left after the drying process, they taste great. They are soft and sweet. Most people like them. But, because of the way they are produced, they are quite expensive and thus a valuable ingredient.
So, when we say, someone is picking the raisins, he or she is taking a lot of something good and does not leave enough for the others. In this context the ‘good’ not necessarily needs to be food. It could also be public holidays inside the vacation time. Or, when it comes to pay for a round, one always pay only the cheap drinks and leaves the expensive drinks to be paid by the others. Or doing the easy work while leaving the hard work to be done by the others. I guess, you got the idea.
Do you have a similar saying? Leave me a note in the comments.
This little guy is picking a raisin out from a Dresdner Christstollen (or shorter Dresdener Stollen), a typical German sweet, spiced bread. It’s made with a lot of butter, sugar, raisins, candied orange peel, candied citron peel, nuts, almonds, mild, rum and a lot more. Although, it’s known and made in many more parts of Germany, the Stollen from Dresden is best know.
Take care!
Monochrome Madness 4-36
We have another theme for Monochrome Madness, this week. It’s “holiday”
End of December every year we have a couple of holidays during the Advent and Christmas season and finally New Year. Many shopping has to be done. So, you’re faced with over-crowded urban centers, traffic jams, full streets and parking grounds, crowded shops and malls.All the people have common goals: buying gifts for Christmas, food for the banquets or feasts, visiting the Christmas markets. Ordering the stuff online does not work any better, because the delivery services are overloaded, too. But, finally the holiday arrives and all the shops are closed. Empty streets and free parking grounds again. Silence, calmness and hold-ups. A breathing time for the shop assistants.
This is my contribution to Monochrome Madness organized by Leanne Cole. Look at here site on Thursday (Australian time), to see many more monochrome images created by many other talented photographers from all over the world.
I’d also encourage you to participate. The conditions are published in each of her Monochrome Madness posts.
Take care!
Merry Christmas
Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Merry christmas!
Joyeux Noël!
Vrolijk Kerstfeest!
Buon Natale!
Shinnen omedeto!
Feliz Navidad!
and for all the other people, too, everywhere on the world, regardless where you are and which your native language is: have a merry and peaceful Christmas.
Wordless Wednesday: Christmas
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Monochrome Tuesday
Although Monochrome Madness pauses this week because of the Christmas holidays, But, I’m following my regular schedule and show you a monochrome image, just like each Tuesday.
This image is from my archive.
I hope, you have had a nice holiday.
Merry Christmas for all of you
Wordless Wednesday: Christmas lantern
I wish you a merry Christmas!
Monochrome Madness 3-36
This week we have another themed MMC. Obviously the theme is Christmas. Because of my last trip, I have a lot of Christmas related images in my archive.
In this image you can find a few very typical Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree, a candle pyramid, a Schwibbogen, the miner and the angle.
The region of Erzgebirge has a very, very long mining history. The two figurines are very typical here. They were the first parts miners nicked out of wood during winter, when they were bored because it was impossible to work in the mines. The man symbolises the miner himself and the angle is his wife. Today, they are known in that particular dressing originating from the 18th century. Once you were able to find these in every window. One miner and one angel for the parents and for each boy child a smaller miner and for each girl a small angel.
The Schwibbogen (the wooden bow above the two figurines) symbolises the entrance of the mine. The origin of this symbol is also the Erzgebirge.
The candle pyramid is very common in Germany, but I don’t know much about the origin. so, I have to find out for one of my nest posts 🙂
Finally the Christmas tree. This tree was invented as a symbol for the eternal life because he is green even in winter. According to wikipedia the oldest official document mentioning a Christmas tree, is from 1527 in Mainz, a city in the middle of Germany. The bowls symbolise the fruits in the garden of Eden. The candles symbolise, “the light (Jesus Christ) will come back”. The other parts of the tree decorations symbolise the gifts brought by the there Magi.
This is my contribution to Monochrome Madness organized by Leanne Cole. Look at here site on Thursday (Australian time), to see many more monochrome images created by many other talented photographers from all over the world.
I’d also encourage you to participate. The conditions are published in each of here Monochrome Madness posts.
Take care!
St. Barbara
Today, we have the 2nd of Advent.
All days have a patron. And todays patron is a martyr called Barbara. She used to live in the 3rd century.
Here we have a tradition, of cutting of twigs from certain trees and put them inside the house. When doing so, they will bloom on Christmas. You can take twigs i.e. from cherry trees, apple trees, pear trees, plum trees or forsythia.
To bring them to bloom, they must have a frost first. Either, you cut them after having had a frost outside before December 4th, or you put them into your freezer for a night after having them cut of. Then, put them in warm water for a night (i.e. in your bathtub). So the buds feel can the spring. The next day, you have to to cut the twig diagonally above the cutting surface or tenderize it with a hammer. Put them in a vase and place it in a warm room. Refresh the water every three or four days. Spray them with water, if the air in the room is very dry. The twigs need some air moisture. Dry air makes the twigs shrivel.
For us, this is the first time we’re trying this.
Take care!
A Joyful Advent
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