Day 20

It’s four days until Christmas Eve; tomorrow, it’s the Winter Solstice. This means the days will become longer, and the darkness will slowly disappear. This Christmas, there won’t be snow in Southern Finland. It’s a shame because snow makes it lighter. Now it’s boring, and it doesn’t feel like a holiday at all. There won’t be snow in the place where I’m spending my Christmas time, so it doesn’t matter. Most of the time, I’m on a ship; what matters most is that there is no storm on the open sea. Eating and a rocking cruise ship are not a good combination. Screen name; Been there, done that.

Christmas Eve in Finland is when you eat Christmas dishes and open presents (if you have any). I don’t really care about the dishes, so I don’t bother doing them myself. I’m going on a cruise, so I don’t need to. I only eat one or two slices of baked ham, rutabaga casserole (but only if I made it myself), salted herring and salmon. Those are the most common Finnish dishes on Christmas. I’m more into sweet things like gingerbread cookies, pinecone-shaped cake, chocolates and Christmas pastries. Even as a kid, I couldn’t wait for dinner to be over so we could move to the desserts. I usually bake Christmas pastries with plum jam from ready-made dough, but I think it wastes time since I’m alone. They get mouldy before I have time to eat them. Even when Dad was around, they still didn’t last. Store-bought pastries don’t taste the same.

It’s good that the days will be longer and the darkness will come later. In Finland, it gets darker at 3:30 p.m. and lighter at about 9:30 a.m. And that’s in the South of Finland. Imagine how it is up north at this time. But when the Winter Solstice arrives, things will become nicer again. Christmas doesn’t only mean the end of 2024 is near but also that the spirit will rise, and it’s time to relax (for those who can).