Christmas Run Up

 

Tis the week before Christmas and all through the village, there's magic. During the day we walk by Christmas trees lining the street along with log decorations bearing smiley faces of Père Noëls, elves and reindeer.. Music plays. At night, overhead there are lights that will turn the village into a canopy of white at dusk.

Periodically ponies with children on their backs will walk by our house, part of the Christmas market at Place Gambetta, once a parking lot turned into a center with fountains for community events. Now there are Christmas trees, lights, chalets with different merchandise. Children sit on Père Noël's lap and tell him their wishes. In case he's on break, there is mail box where they can leave their letters to him, probably emphasizing how good they've been all year.

There are outdoor concerts planned for each night for the marché.

I think back to Christmases when I was still working in Geneva. The week before most departments would hold mini-fêtes. Nibbles could be as simple as chips/crisps and slices of sausage to smoked salmon and foie gras. The print department would serve oysters and I still remember the click as the head of the department opened each shell and another employee would slice lemons. Even if I couldn't eat them because of allergies, I loved the ritual and to watch the twist of the hand by the shucker.

 

If I was lucky there would be a pain surprise. The hollowed out round loaf bread had been put together in a series of layered sandwiches, each layer with a different filling.

People talked about what they would be doing for the shutdown from noon on Christmas Eve until January 2nd. Some would ski, others would go home to wherever that might be, another part of Switzerland or another part of the world. Others were happy for a quiet time with their families without the stress of rushing to work each day.

Shutdowns of many businesses were common. Some businesses would maintain a skeleton crew while others left a recording suggesting people contact them next year.

Our sister organization in the same building did not shut down. The head was an American who had no patience for such things. So often an American would arrive to take over a Swiss organization and s/he would look at the four week holidays given to all employees and want to cut it back to two. S/he was quickly told that it was Swiss law that employees have a minimum of four weeks and some companies offered six. Our Christmas shutdown was NOT deducted from our normal vacation time.

Our plans are simple. We have decided our only Christmas gifts will be books, especially there is nothing we want or need. No need to add to the clutter. Our stockings, made by my daughter, will serve as decorations. We will follow the Icelandic tradition of going to bed to read our gifts and I've found a way to make strong hot chocolate to drink as we read.

Our tree this year is a living tree that we hope will survive till next year. In past years we've taken the needles to the river to return to nature while the rest of the tree is left for the garbage collectors, a rather unfitting end.

We've done a table tree for years because Sherlock considers a floor tree the gift of an indoor toilet. We've chosen the smaller of our handmade ornaments from a half century ago for the tree. The larger ones are on the glass of our front doors and we've seen people stop to look at them.

Christmas dinner will be traditional with only one guest. The butcher informs me he can't sell me only a half turkey, but he can cut a whole one in half and he'll wrap the half so it will freeze well. Our oven is too small for even a small bird. I have cranberry sauce and pumpkin bought at the American store in Geneva. And I look forward to the hot turkey sandwiches the day after.

In the middle of the week is the Solstice. We will celebrate the turning of the year with champagne and probably a Bûche de Noël. Living as we do, mixing traditions from different nationalities is the norm.

I relish the darkness at night, the late morning starts, the coziness of my home, the company of my husband and dog. Soon everything will be back of normal and there's a new year to look forward to with plans already made to do this or that, go here or there, work on my novel, anthology and non-fiction book.

Until then, I will treasure every moment of this week.