Text and images Britt Arnhild Wigum Lindland
If you have read Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods for some time you will know that today, the last Sunday before Christmas, is traditionally called Dirty Sunday in Norway. Unlike many other places in the western world, Christmas is not here yet, we have no Christmas tree up, we haven't even bought ours yet, and though we have been baking, this year we have been very clever and not eaten any of the cookies.....yet. But Christmas is coming soon, very soon, and as the holidays, the holy days, are coming closer, we are getting more busy. To help (I wonder if it really was a help) the housewives getting all the preparations done, they were allowed to bake and clean and do all chores even on the last Sunday before Christmas. No resting, not even on a Sunday.
Here in The House in the Woods we are en route. Some baking will be done today, some cleaning, and I will start preparations for our traditional dinner on lille julaften (Little Christmas Eve). But I also plan a long walk with my camera, to capture the beauty of my day, the beauty of my life. Capture not only with my lenses, but also with my heart.
Advent this year has been a very good time for family and friends. Like Friday, two days ago. I took some time off work during lunchbreak to have lunch with two best friends, I did some Christmas shopping and had dinner in town with my two boys, Torgeir and Øystein while Terje was home baking with the girls. The House in the Woods is situated in the bottom of a small hill, and while driving down this hill on my way home, light was glowing warm and bright out of the windows of our home. I could see through the livingroom into the kitchen where Terje, Marta, Ingrid and Marius were busy with their baking................and as it is some times, in the glimpse of a few seconds a thousand thoughts passed through me. It all looked so cosy, a deep, deep love for the life I have been given, my husband, our children, our home, our everydays and the love between us..........
..........what have I done to deserve it all. How can I keep it all for days and weeks and years and generations to come.
There and then I wanted to sit right down and write a book. A romantic one, more like the House on the Prairie, to capture the life we life, here and now.
When I came in I took some photos of "Daddy's Little Helpers". Our princess of fun, Marta, couldn't resist. The second before I shot the photo she pressed her hand down on the left over baking flour, and fast, fast, fast raised the flourfilled hand up to her big sister's face to leave her lovemark. With my camera I cought the perfect smiles, don't you agree :-)
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About writing a book - at least I will sit down today to write a long entry in my diary about the lunch with my friends, about dinner and shopping with Torgeir and Øystein, about the wonderful smell of Christmas cooking in progress when I came home. About love and laughter filling my life.
Happy Dirty Sunday.
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By the way, Friday didn't finish with the baking. Late at night terje and I drove over to my parents for supper, with them and with my brother Børge who lives in Iceland.
Blessed day!
