Of fairies and flying trees and blog posts that were discarded
So, Christmas officially ended yesterday here in Niceland, with the passing of þrettándinn, meaning 'the thirteenth' - or, in plain old English - Twelfth Night. [Incidentally, I wondered for years why it was called the 12th in English and the 13th in Icelandic ... until I figured out that here in Iceland we celebrate Christmas a day earlier than the Anglo Saxons. D'oh!]
That day - þrettándinn - is traditionally marked with more brennur [at which people dressed up in elf and fairy costumes sometimes appear, so yes, this guy had some of his facts straight. Fireworks displays are held, members of the general populace shoot up any leftover rockets, and also take down their Christmas decorations, making this also a day of flying Christmas trees, as people generally toss them down from their balconies when they're done. From there they are dragged to the sidewalks where bright orange trucks from the City come pick them up to give them a second life as wood chips to be used on walking paths, meaning that anyone who has become overly attached to their tree can go visit it later.
We decided to let our beautiful tree stay up for one extra day because, well, it is just so darn good looking. Plus we had people over for dinner last night and EPI's sister brought a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and, well, you just can't take down a Christmas tree when you're high on Veuve Cliquot. It's just not humanly possible. Trust me. You don't even wanna try.
Anyway. Christmas is over, the sun rises higher in the sky each day, and the New Year stretches ahead like an unwritten blog post. Life is good.
IT'S LOOKING MIGHTY GORGEOUS OUT THERE
Frigid and clear these next few days is what the weatherman is forecasting. Currently -2°C [28F], sunrise was at 11.12 and sunset due for 3.56 pm.
PS - Some of you may be surprised to see that yesterday's post has been pulled. The subject matter turned out to be a bit too flammable and attracted interest from camps that YT had no idea were watching. Potentially this might have harmed not only YT but also someone very close to me. Hence measures were taken.
That day - þrettándinn - is traditionally marked with more brennur [at which people dressed up in elf and fairy costumes sometimes appear, so yes, this guy had some of his facts straight. Fireworks displays are held, members of the general populace shoot up any leftover rockets, and also take down their Christmas decorations, making this also a day of flying Christmas trees, as people generally toss them down from their balconies when they're done. From there they are dragged to the sidewalks where bright orange trucks from the City come pick them up to give them a second life as wood chips to be used on walking paths, meaning that anyone who has become overly attached to their tree can go visit it later.
We decided to let our beautiful tree stay up for one extra day because, well, it is just so darn good looking. Plus we had people over for dinner last night and EPI's sister brought a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and, well, you just can't take down a Christmas tree when you're high on Veuve Cliquot. It's just not humanly possible. Trust me. You don't even wanna try.
Anyway. Christmas is over, the sun rises higher in the sky each day, and the New Year stretches ahead like an unwritten blog post. Life is good.
IT'S LOOKING MIGHTY GORGEOUS OUT THERE
Frigid and clear these next few days is what the weatherman is forecasting. Currently -2°C [28F], sunrise was at 11.12 and sunset due for 3.56 pm.
PS - Some of you may be surprised to see that yesterday's post has been pulled. The subject matter turned out to be a bit too flammable and attracted interest from camps that YT had no idea were watching. Potentially this might have harmed not only YT but also someone very close to me. Hence measures were taken.
Labels: Traditions, Yule
posted by Alda at 12:13 PM
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