The 2nd Christmas Day

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave....  

NO, not that one.  And not Boxing Day for all you Canadians, Brits and Aussies.

Today in the Netherlands is the 2nd Christmas Day, following the 1st Christmas Day, naturally, which was yesterday.  Assuming Wiki is right, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Scandinavia, and Poland also celebrate the 2nd Christmas Day today.  Sharing the love, of course.

That's why the Dutch Christmas greeting in the V&V post yesterday was Prettige Kerstdagen = Pleasant Christmas Days.  There really are two of them.

And both of them are national holidays, so Astrid is home with me today.  But here's how it works.  If December 25 and 26, the two Christmas days, happen to fall on a Saturday and Sunday....  Well, tough luck!  You miss out that year on any extra days apart from the weekend for Christmas, as happened last year.

This is different from most companies in America that follow a Christmas-on-Saturday means Friday is off and Christmas-on-Sunday means Monday is off.  In that regard, they get two Christmas days, too.  That means maybe your significant other is also at home with you today.

Perhaps it's because we need them (the days, that is, not the significant others--HA!).  Have you ever thought about that?  Actually, we usually need at least a week!  I assume all Christmas-celebrating countries close schools everywhere between Christmas and New Years.  The kids are home and one or both parents take off from work.  A time to relax or travel to see relatives.

Or to "dumb" down.  To allow the house to lie fallow after all the zaniness of the last days.  Or maybe WE'RE who need the "fallowing."  Just shut down for awhile.  Take out all the batteries. 

In other words, it's a gift, today, just like yesterday...kinda, sorta.  How will we give it to ourselves and each other?  Astrid and I will maybe finish the jigzaw puzzle we started a month ago....

We may even try to figure out how to end one year before starting another?  Or not!

Life's Serendipities

ser·en·dip·i·ty  n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1.The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.

2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.

3. An instance of making such a discovery.

Today in the Netherlands it is Sinterklaasdag, 5 December.  It's the traditional day for the Dutch to do their gift-giving for the Christmas season (in spite of American influences seeping in to augment gifts on Christmas day).  Think Santa Claus and presents.  Today.

Two years ago today (though it was a Saturday then), I moved to the Netherlands from America to begin a new life with the Dutch woman I married two months later.  It was totally coincidental that the day I arrived was Sinterklaasdag.  We didn't plan it that way.  But every year since then, Astrid and I will celebrate this day as our biggest and best gift to each other.

That's serendipity.  And, YES, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

I have always loved serendipitous moments.  They may be more rare than "normal," but maybe that's what makes them so "fortunate" and "by accident."

This past September, when we spent a few days in England with friends (and met CherryPie, remember?), we had another serendipitous moment that still drops my jaw to the ground.  As we strolled by the Royal Crescent in Bath, I looked up to see the entablature above the columns and stopped dead in my tracks.

There they were, just as plain as day.  From the entire length of the Crescent, a row of 30 houses with entablatures above, these were the two we just happened to see:  a heart (Hart) and a windmill side-by-side.  In Bath, England, of all places.

That's serendipity.

Of all the gifts I've ever received in my lifetime, these rank up there at the top.  They "just happened" by accident.  Most fortunate because they didn't cost a cent and I'll never forget them!

If you believe in Santa Claus, I'm sure you have your own serendipitous memories.  Feel free to share them here...and then store them up as the gifts that can never be lost or taken away from you.

And let's keep our eyes open.  You never know when a "by accident" is just waiting to happen!

School Spirit

Following very closely on the heels of those dang inedible Buckeyes horse chestnuts from my last post, some of you will "get" this.  The rest of you...well...go ahead and roll your eyes.

This is that time of the year when it happens.  Shuffling through the fallen leaves.  The smell of their burning raked-up piles.  Dancing with the cold, crisp air.  I'm immediately transported back to those home-game Saturdays, walking across campus with the rest of the school body to the Big House. 

We were electric with excitement.  Our previous night's game-rally was still coursing through our blood.  We were already tasting victory.  Hail to the Victors Valiant!  Hail to the Conquering Heroes!

Some Saturdays were more important than others, like when sister Ruth's school dared to enter our stadium.  Even in my own family, them are fightin' words (good English).  When Ruth's school beat mine a couple Saturdays ago (while Astrid and I were in Atlanta), I was reduced to GD swearing.  Seriously. 

Sweet little innocent Wolverine Ginnie.  Look at her up there on our headboard.  Of all the things I could have gotten rid of before moving!  The wee one on the right represents me as a college girl in the 60s.  The one with gray hairs is, um, still fighting strong!

Astrid says I become a different person during those games.  She looks at me sideways, wondering if she really knows me?

But she hasn't seen nothin' yet (good English)!  Wait till the BIG one comes two Saturdays from now.   Our REAL arch rivalry.  Even after almost 50 years, I can still work up a sweat about the outcome of that final game of our season.

That final game, btw, was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest North American sports rivalry.  

Who cares, you say.  I DO!  And so does one of you.  I know who you are.  Are you squirming yet?  Sweating?  Our Big House will be packed to the gills, waiting for you...all 110,000 of us.  Who cares that you've won our last 6 match-ups.  This is the year.  No mercy.

Let the stats speak for themselves:

Michigan–Ohio State rivalry
First meeting	October 17, 1897[1] Michigan 34, Ohio State 0
Last meeting	November 27, 2010[2] Ohio State 37, Michigan 7 (Win vacated by Ohio State)[3]
Next meeting	November 26, 2011
Total meetings	107
Series record	Michigan: 57–44–6 Ohio State: 43*–57–6 *2010 vacated win not included
Largest victory	Michigan, 86–0 (1902)
Longest streak	Michigan, 9 (1901–1909)
Current streak	Michigan: 7 losses (2004–2010) Ohio State: 6 wins, (2004–2009)
Trophy:	None

I'll be gracious in victory, of course.

And if we lose...yet again...we'll do what we always do with those dang inedible Buckeyes horse chestnuts:  we'll chew them up and spit them out!

 GO BLUE!

[Sadly, the recently reported sport's sex scandal at another of America's great universities was disclosed after I had drafted my post. It could have happened anywhere, of course. Please know I grieve with all the victims who are part of this very sad story.]