Christmas Day 2019 - Merry Kiltmas

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

It's that time of the year again. I wanted to be all fancified for my hosting duties so I went with a blue velvet blazer.

Christmas Eve 2019 - Mom's

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Mom moved this past spring from her condo to senior living apartments which was another change in our Christmas routine. We'd spent to last 11 Christmas Eves doing cheese fondue and steaks at her condo in Edina. Her new place is as equally charming and comfortable. 

Since her move I'd forgotten we were storing her artificial tree in our basement and she never asked for it. I offered to bring it over a few days ago but she said she'd just pass on the tree for this year and would decide if she wants to do one next year. I brought over a little tabletop tree that I'd left decorated from last year. Dale was unaware of I even had it and was a little taken aback that I could produce a decorated tree like Mary Poppins magically pulling something out of her nanny bag. 

Anyway, dinner was lovely. We finished out the evening with Baba dessert. My favorite dessert from childhood which was introduced years and years ago by Grandma Jean. 

Christmas Eve 2019 - Kalle Anke

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Settled in for Kalle Anke at around 2:15 which is a little earlier than usual. 

I put in a DVD called Disney's Merry Christmas Songs which is a sing-a-long. I used to show it to the kids at a school a worked at a number of years ago. Great fun and lots of memories.

Didn't finish the DVD before heading to the Christmas Eve service but we watched some more of it afterward and before heading over to Mom's for fondue. 

There's been some concern in recent years that the tradition in Sweden may eventually go away as younger folks are used to on-demand watching due to DVDs and now streaming. It's my understanding that viewership, once at a height of around 50 percent of the population, has dipped to "only" a third of the population. However, home video has been around since the early 1980s and the tradition is still strong. I read that as recently as 2016 cell phone use dropped 28 percent and calls to emergency services fell 16 percent during the broadcast of the show. 

I find that my own version of Kalle Anke on the 24th provides a nice transition from the more secular aspects of the season to the more religious. 

Click on the link below for an article from Slate magazine on Kalle Anke.

https://slate.com/culture/2009/12/sweden-s-bizarre-tradition-of-watching-donald-duck-kalle-anka-cartoons-on-christmas-eve.html