"Riiiiippppp."
"Well, there goes the crotch of my jeans," I thought to myself this week as I knelt to pick something up in my living room.
As I was working from home that morning and had no plans or need to leave the house, I continued to wear the jeans. I figured I would just throw them out that night when I changed clothes. It wasn't as if it was a total surprise. After all, the button fly was prone to popping open at very inconvenient times, allowing moose to stampede out of my jeans, or a glimpse of Santa riding on his sleigh, or whatever other boxers I happened to have on during the given day.
The following afternoon, I encountered almost the EXACT experience again. Another "riiippp," and suddenly, I had effectively totaled two pairs of jeans inside of a week.
The positive from this is that I now have more room in my closet, and reinforcements (brand spanking new jeans) are soon to be filling the space. Still, I get a little sentimental when it is time to let go of a friendly garment that I have worn for many years. Twice.
In other exciting news, I finally got my first hint of getting into the spirit of the season. A week ago Saturday, I woke up to find snow on the ground, which melted over the course of the afternoon, but still served as a nice little glimpse of winter. Frankfurt tends to be really cold in November and early December, then turns mild (relatively) until mid January, where it stays ridiculously cold until at least the beginning of March.
Keeping up with recent tradition, my father sent me a digital Advent Calendar, and I am enjoying this one just as much as previous years. The theme this year is set in London, and each day you get a little interactive scene; sometimes it is a game, or an opportunity to decorate a tree, or simply a peaceful Christmas scene. Besides the daily surprise, there are little games and various other activities to keep you entertained in the days leading to Christmas.
As much as I enjoy the calendar itself, I actually like enjoying that my father enjoys it so much. Likewise, my sister is pretty enthused. Over the past week, we have all compared notes on the little things that we have found in the setting, the surprises, and our favorite parts.
Because this year's calendar is set in London, Big Ben chimes in accordance with the computer clock. Hands down, it is my favorite thing, so far.
The Advent Calendar has a lot of meaning in our family. My grandmother (my mother's mother) was very creative and artistic. When my sister was very small, Nana made a calendar from felt. Each day in December had a little pocket containing an ornament. Each day, you put one of the ornaments on the felt Christmas tree, up until the 24th, which always contains the star.
We all have our childhood memories of Christmastime, and the family Advent calendar (along with the Advent wreath) was close to top of the list. Each day, my sister and I would take turns putting up an ornament. Over the years, we had to take turns on who went first, so as to ensure that one of got to put the star up at least once every two years.
My sister, many years later, had the good sense to make a new felt Advent calendar not only for herself and family, but also for me. So, these past 20 years, we have three of the Advent calendars on the go. In various parts of the world.
This year, it is the only decoration I have up in the flat, but I am making the most of it. And, just like I did as a child, immediately upon waking up in the morning, on the way to the kitchen to turn on the espresso machine, I stop and put up another ornament. And love it.
The other highlight of the week involves me finally learning the difference between eggnog and Eierlikör.
As I child, I was first introduced to eggnog that came from the dairy section of the grocery store. It was basically milk and eggs and sugar. Call it innocence, but for years I was not aware that there was a version which contained alcohol.
One time at a Christmas party at someone's house, I was pleased to find that they had homemade eggnog. Of course, this was back before I knew exactly what the ingredients were; I just knew it tasted good and it was special for Christmas.
At the party, I overlooked the fact that there were two separate punch bowls of eggnog. Logic (for a seven year old) at the time told me to go to the closest punch bowl for a refill. That was, until an adult pointed out that I was refilling my cup with the "souped" up version.
My parents quickly intervened and made it clear which bowl I could use, but by the way, slow down on the consumption of sweet beverage. Christmas, children, and sugar, eh?
A couple of years later, I discovered a recipe for a single eggnog serving in a children's cookbook, and I proceed to proudly use my initiative to whip up a serving or two. My friend Jeff was visiting one time, and decided that eggnog was not for him, based on the ingredients he saw me mixing.
Up until that point, it had never occurred to me that eggnog ingredients might put someone off. I recognize that not everyone has a taste for it, but I think it is just the idea of a raw egg going in a drink creates a few questions. My thought at the time was simple. If Rocky can drink raw eggs, then I can too.
Ah, the 70s, Christmas, children, and sugar, eh?
So, this past Wednesday, just a mere 12 hours after I had ruined my second pair of jeans, I met up with the usual crowd at the pub. This was our final get together with everyone before the holidays. Two of the girls brought homemade Eierlikör, which is rather popular in Germany at Christmas.
Although I am not a huge fan of shots, especially sweet liquor, I certainly wanted to sample the offering. The girls found some little shot cups made of cookie, but lined with chocolate on the inside, so as to make for an edible shot experience.
Eierlikör to me tastes almost exactly like I remember eggnog, obviously with alcohol (rum) in it.
But, as we discussed the differences between the two (while standing outside the establishment sneaking our drinks, as the pub frowns on one bringing in their own spirits for consumption....at least until we made the landlord and the waitress try a sample or three, themselves) I discovered that while eggnog contains egg yolk, Eierlikör does not.
Had no one said anything about the difference, I never would have known. That said, it tasted great to me, and we all enjoyed several rounds during the evening.
It made for a very nice evening, very festive, and a nice way for me to wrap things up in Bornheim for a couple of weeks.
True, my tongue and head were not functioning so well the next morning, but hey, Christmas, children, and sugar, eh? And beer and shots.
That night at the pub, I looked across at the school, and noticed that this year, due to the high cost of utilities, the school is not lighting a window each night for Advent. One of my fond Bornheim Christmas memories is seeing the 24 windows on the front of the school converted into an Advent calendar. But, in the interest of conserving energy, I do welcome the decision.
So that is me wrapping things up before I get out of town for a few weeks. The rules change daily, and with children (no matter what age) and corona, all plans are subject to change.
Fingers crossed that I will not be too heavily impacted, but I will take things as they come.
see you out there
Bryan
