Unlocking the Light.

 

Cezar, responsible for my wonderful
Christmas dinner!

Jan van Eyckplein nearby, early
on Christmas morning.

Still rather tired on Christmas Day from too many tasks [all small scale] to be done on Christmas Eve, Surprisingly perhaps, I enjoyed my first solo Christmas very much, buoyed up no doubt by the HOURS I spent chatting on Facetime. Without that electronic wizardry, the day would have been different. My Christmas dinner from Cezar was even better than expected! Lobster soup with rouille and croutons first followed by hare with truffles and tasty mash and completed with a wonderful Mascarpone Pavlova with cherry liqueur. Accompanied by a miniature champagne, a gift from Lieven, my personal trainer. Nothing much like the huge family traditional Christmas blow-out with turkey or goose, compulsory Brussel sprouts plus roast potatoes and other veg followed by Christmas pudding, The trad. British festive fare is much loved with a huge pull on the collective British imagination and will undoubtedly have been greatly enjoyed by all my family yesterday. SO my own Christmas was far from my normal for me but it was cordon bleu and immensely satisfying. Although I did have an occasional pang for an M&S Luxury mince pie, warmed, and my son’s family’s mention of pigs in blankets caused momentary longing!

Oliver Cromwell, 
Protector of Britain 

In spite of all, Covid did not cause the cancellation of Christmas which has survived intact since the Protectorate in the mid seventeenth century when Oliver Cromwell tried to banish the ceremony which leaned too much towards paganism. The Puritanical approach to life thankfully lasted only twenty long years! Since when strong men, aka Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, have studiously avoided the possibility of being labelled as “the first man since Cromwell to cancel Christmas….” Hence, or at least, one reason for Boris’s dithering about Tier restrictions leading up to The Main Event.

This morning, as I plugged in the Christmas tree, put on carols by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen and added water to my lovely red and green bouquets, I mused on enjoying life physically alone. How difficult many seem to find it and how pleasant it has chiefly been for me. This happy state seems govern

Boris

ed by having occasional contacts on phone or Ipad; beautiful space in which to live; projects to enjoy; food and drink to imbibe though the latter is currently altered as I manage a three day pre-colonoscopy diet, which is not difficult. Also, I suspect, resilience and stoicism, perhaps easier to attain when old.

Could be my fav. Christmas card!

Plus, of course, emails with titles like that from HuffPost UK, The Brightside: “This email contains only uplifting news.” And again, extras like my new book by Andy McSweeney, photographer par excellence, entitled, Brugge Landscapes: Unlocked for Light. Andy, a Canadian married to a Brugge girl, has transformed the Brugge Covid disaster into a book of photographs which are all little works of art full of light, space and the beauties of the landscape, both brick and water. Then I was delighted to find, on Christmas morning a Quentin Blake card from my sister. She and I have long been Quentin fans!!

I have given myself the luxury this morning of an opt-out from the usual early walk; excuses include stormy, rainy weather; self-treat for Christmas; lots of typing to do [and that is currently slow and clumsy.] Nails, professionally gelled, are loooong and my girl may not open till February!

Obama

Post-morning chores, personal and spatial, I gave myself the luxury of an early and prolonged viewing online of Michael Cohen being interviewed about Trump’s Mafia boss, pardons [interesting] and then an interview of Obama by Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. Obama is doing numerous talk show interviews to publicise his current 700 page autobiography, A Promised Land. I am reminded of Barack O’s eloquence, honesty, fluency, humour, intellectual range, political savvy, essential goodness and fitness for the office of Presidency. Also ponder on the fact that, during his initial campaign to win the Democratic nomination for the Presidential race in 2007/8 he had to have the highest level of police protection [President level] because the number of threats to his life were the largest ever recorded. The interview also left me with considerable admiration for the skill of Trevor Noah, the online journalist-presenter.

Trevor Noah

Andy McSweeney