Yule-tide
greetings to you all! Or, if you’re in the southern hemisphere, happy Litha!
Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. From here-on-in the
days get longer &, apparently, warmer. Although those warm spring days seem
a long way off!
For
my first Dutch Donderdag post I shall head off on a tangent…
The
reason I celebrate the solstice is that I am a Pagan. I celebrate the changing
of the seasons. To me the earth & her turning is a more tangible &
natural thing to tune in to than a man on a fluffy cloud. I’ve been Pagan since
I was quite little. I was not raised in a Pagan household. Actually it was more
atheist/agnostic. The odd thing was that when I was little my mum used to make
me say the bedtime prayer before I went off to sleep. You know… the one that
goes “Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, bless this bed I lie upon…. Amen”. We
would say it every night until the young feminist in me asked “what about ‘Our
Women’?” Of course this makes more sense if you realised we pronounced Amen as ‘our
men’. Anyway, at that precise moment that god-based routine died a swift death.
A few
years later I pointedly told my mother that I didn't believe in god. My mother
asked me what I did believe in. I told her that I felt that the earth was some
type of ‘organism’ able to produce the plant & animals we see around us.
She told me that sounded like Gaia Theory & so the notion that I was a
Pagan took hold. My weird thoughts actually had a name, although I would
probably just class myself as a bog-standard Pagan… nothing fancy
So
these days, instead of celebrating Christmas I celebrate the winter solstice. I
decorate the house in tinsel (I LOVE Christmas decorations & can’t wait
till December 1st) &, until this year, I would always have a
tree up, no matter how cramped the flat. Now I live in a flat with 2 cats &
1 destructive kitten so trees are a no-no & all the tinsel is at ceiling level, firmly
out of reach of curious paws. I open my presents on the solstice and usually
make a festive meal for my partner. If I’m on my own then I have the added
treat of watching my Hogfather DVD by way
of festive entertainment.
This
year’s celebrating was a little different. Seeing as I had my Amsterdam Girls meet-up
group lunch today (the group is for expat & local girls/women to come
together for a gossip over good food & wine) & because my boyfriend wouldn’t be
home till late my festive meal was restaurant based. Not that I’m complaining
as it was nice to be waited on instead of me doing all the cooking.
Now
we get to the minuscule Dutch bit… a restaurant review
Lunch
today was at a charming little place called Van Kerkwijk located down, what
looks like, a back alley called Nes, just off Dam Square. There was no menu to
be given. Instead it was a set meal that started off with a VERY nice pumpkin
& parsnip soup (quite festive in itself) followed by plates of meat (not
for veggie me), veg, pâté, cheeses & bread that we could help ourselves
to. It was also very reasonably priced. Enough food to satisfy us, plus a
couple of drinks came to about €15 a head. So if you’re ever in Amsterdam it’s
well worth a try.
So Season’s
Greetings. Summer is coming… I promise!
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| My sad little Christmas tree that no cats can climb up... at least it made my present look HUGE! |
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