Sunday, December 29, 2019

Romjul or Twixtmas

Maybe I am the only person alive that has never heard of Romjul but I am really excited I have now discovered it.  

Living in other cultures over the years I have tried to maintain my childhood Christmas experience and traditions.  But since we live in America now, we don't have any Boxing Day.  I know!!!  They just don't know what they are missing.  But, we roll with it because... 'when in Rome' yada yada yada.  I worked for a school district for 15 years so I had the time off anyway. I was a lucky one and retired last Christmas.  I still struggle with the idea of business as normal, on December 26, - for most people including immediate family members, which is a bit dismal. 

I have been pondering and ruminating on this lack of prolonged Christmas.  I remember when I was young we entered a time-warp where nothing existed outside the house we were in, usually at my Nana's in Gloucester.  We took a coach (no it did not have horses) and often we were stuck in snow drifts or lost traction on icy hills.  My mother and I watching through a foggy window, alarmed, as the men got off the bus to throw gravel under the wheels.  My brother vomiting in a bag as the bus slithered backwards.  I digress.

I am excited to have found a formal name for the period between Christmas and New Year now thanks to trusty Norsemen.  

Romjul.  I love this written by Alf Prøysen

"One should have been four years old in Romjula when the Christmas lights were shining all day long and the world was a house with four walls, where the very bliss was a grandmothers lap."

Here is a link to the Metro article where I discovered this exciting information.

I will now always remember I am justifiably in Romjul and have a perfectly good excuse to do absolutely nothing all day and every day....after all Ancestry dna said I am teensy-weensy part Scandinavian.  


No comments:

Post a Comment