Angels

 

It has become my tradition to put up my collection of Angels for St Lucy's Day (13th Dec), which this year falls on the Saturday before 3rd Advent Sunday. The glass angels in my living room; and the rest in the window of my study. 

 

 

I think I've mentioned before that all these angels have come to me as gifts from friends - I haven't actually bought any of them myself. The porcelain angel to the left is the only one that has been with me from early childhood; the rest have come flying in one by one much later in my life. 

 

 

This song is from one of the Christmas albums that I have on CD. 

Fall

 

Linden trees along a street in my neighbourhood.

How quickly things can change from "normal" (cf. previous post) to - not quite normal!

There is a reason why I chose the title "Fall" for this post - and is has little to do with all the leaves falling to the ground.

Yesterday afternoon (as so often on a Friday) I went to dispose of some "recyclables" in the bins at the end of the linden-lined street above. Having finished that job, I decided to extend my walk a bit further. As the photo shows, it was a sunny day. 

Between the street I was on and a pedestrian crossing over another road, there is a small grassy patch. One second I was happily walking across that grassy patch (only a few steps), while keeping my eyes on the traffic situation on the bigger road... 

... and the next second, I found myself sprawled on the ground, with no idea how that had happened, or which parts of me might or might not still be in working order...

I must have slipped on a patch still muddy from the rain the day before. But there is still a complete blank in my brain as to exactly how I fell, or in what position I landed. (Checking my clothes later, there was not a trace of dirt on my white (!) jacket, neither front nor back - while my trousers were dirty both back and front!)

It felt like I lay there quite a while trying to work out which parts of me I might be able to move at all; and if there might be a position from which it would feel safe to try and get up to standing position...

Two very young girls (around 9-10?) on the sidewalk along the major road were the first to notice my predicament, and ask if I was all right - looking rather scared. It did not look to me like they'd be able to actually help me get back up on my feet, though... Luckily, a more grown-up Angel also appeared - a young woman who had seen me from her car, and stopped to come to my rescue. She was quite small and thin as well, but she seemed to know what she was doing, and after a few attempts did manage to get me up to standing positon. Although I felt generally bruised - and feared for my left knee in particular, as that has a tendency to play up for less! - to my amazement, nothing seemed to be broken or even "seriously" sprained. Once upright, I felt that I could stand on my legs, and also take a few steps without too much pain. 

The Angel decided it was probably best that she drove me home though (and I did not protest!) As I wasn't far from home that only took a few minutes. The car she was driving had the logo of the council housing company that I rent from. It turned out that she works for them as inspector, and was on her way to such a job nearby. I forgot to ask her name, but I'll be forever grateful. She let me off at my entrance - as there's a lift (elevator), no need to worry about my ability to manage the stairs. 

Taking off my trousers to assess the damage, I was shocked at the size of my left knee, which was also obviously going to turn into an enormous bruise... Instinct told me to make a priority of getting some ice on that, and also a compression bandage. Luckily I did have a variety of bandages already. There was also a small scrape wound on the knee, but very superficial, so nothing to worry about. I had some ice cubes in the freezer and made a first provisorical compress with those. Later on, it struck me that it made more sense to use one of those plastic cooling thingys that you put in cooler bags (not sure of the English word for them), as those don't make everything wet when they thaw... 

 The other place where I felt a bit sore and had a bruise arising was on the outer side of my left foot, below the ankle. It's still a mystery to me how I came to be bruised in those two places - left knee + right ankle - but nowhere else. I also have some pain in my left shoulcer/arm, but no visible bruises there, so I think that's probably from my attempts to get up rather than from the fall as such. (In my right shoulder/arm+ neck I have chronic problems since many years, but that seems not to have got much worse by this incident.) 

I've been taking a series of photos of the development of my bruises, but I think I'll spare you those (for now, anyway), and just give you this neatly bandaged version from Friday afternoon... (My summer jeans with very wide legs came in handy to wear at home - I can just roll up the trouser leg when I need to check on the knee...) 

Apart from the colour of my bruises I don't think anything has been getting "worse". I've been resting with my knee and foot "high" quite a bit, and I've not been out; but I can get around in the flat, and I can sit down and get up again, and do what I need to do at home (like getting food, and washing the dishes). I suppose I'd better take a take a taxi to my doctor's appointment (for other things!!) on Monday morning... But that's not the end of the world...

P.S. There is an emergency clinic at my primary health care centre on weekday evenings (including Friday), and daytime on Saturday and Sunday. So had I felt things getting worse and needed advice, I could have contacted them. But it has not felt necessary.

...

A similar fall happened to me once before. My blog tells me it was as long ago as in the spring of 2017. (8+ years ago!) That time, I stumbled on a kerb of cobble stones separating a walk path from a bicycle path (a very unusual arrangement). But I recall the same feeling of suddeny finding myself on the ground, with no idea what happened, or how much damage... That time, I got a rather deep cut on my elbow. But then, too, "Angels" appeared to help (and that time, gave me a lift to my health care centre to have the cut professionally looked after). 

Re-reading my post from back then, I note that I then also listed a number of "things" not damaged in my fall. It was the same now: Glasses and sunglasses undamaged, phone safe in my handbag, trousers not torn (in spite of scratch wound underneath).

"Sometimes, the greatest angels 
are not found in the heavens, 
but walking beside us on this earth."  
~ Shannon L. Alder

The Angels Are Singing Again

 

As usual I'm putting up my Christmas decorations gradually. For this weekend (3rd Advent), I have added my angels and my Nativity scene. The glass angels with the electric candles in the living room; the rest in my study. The angels all came as gifts from friends on different occasions; the nativity set I bought myself many years ago. (Originally it was just the stable, the family and the three wise men. I've added the other pieces from different sources...)

See the little red wooden horse on the left? It is typical of the Swedish province Dalarna (and nowadays a well-known Swedish souvenir found in almost any tourist shop all over the country). This little one lives on that shelf in my study all year round, but gets to stay for Christmas as well. Partly because of its size; but also as a reminder that its province of origin is also famous for old illustrations of Biblical stories painted in a very special style. Like the one below, of "the three wise men on their way to Bethlehem", by Back Olof Andersson (1797). He and others who made paintings like these knew the Biblical stories from listening to them in church, but had never been to those far-away places themselves, and pictured things very differently in their head...

...Which may in turn serve as a reminder that how we in our time picture things from the past may perhaps not always be all correct either... ;-) 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing...

 

For the 2nd Advent weekend, I brought up my Angels from the basement storage room. The glass angels + matching Christmas tree go under the electric candlestick in my living room:

The rest of them are forming a mixed choir on the window sill in my study.

I've probably mentioned it before, but all the angels are gifts I've received from various friends over the years. The one I've had the longest is the porcelain angel to the left; a gift from cousins of my grandmother when I was quite little, so she's been with me as long as I can remember.

My nativity set is also up now, on its usual shelf in my study.
They're a bit of a "motley crew" as well. ;-)
 

♫ Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King:
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th'angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"♫

(Charles Wesley/George Whitefield)

 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is the main day of Christmas celebrations in Sweden. That's also when 'Santa' (Jultomten) comes knocking on the door here... (well, at least where there are children...) (As we're rather close to the North Pole, I guess it's only logical that he stops by here first, before he goes on to drop things down chimneys in other countries...) 

Yesterday, I woke up to find a much nicer day outside than expected: Bleak sun shining, a very thin layer of powder snow on the ground, trees white with frost again, and temperature hovering around -5°C (~23°F). As I also woke up fairly early, I decided to walk into town and resume my (sometimes) tradition of attending a short 'nativity' service in the old 17th century church there, at 11 am. The time suits me well when spending Christmas on my own (and if it's also a nice day for a walk). Now I hadn't been since 2019, though, because of the you-know-what...

It's a short service with focus on the (Sunday school) children. Some traditional hymns and songs are sung, the nativity story from the Gospel of Luke is read - and then re-told again in simpler words for the children, who then also get to sit up front by the church's nativity set, and also get to help place the figures in the crib. 

I did not go up front afterwards to have a closer look at the crib this year, but I did in 2019, so here is that photo again:

 

On my way back home, I took a little detour along the river in the city centre. It was a perfectly still and frosty day. (Icy streets, but I had my studded winter boots on, and had also brought one of my walking poles for extra safety in tricky places.)

Looking back at the church I had been to.

 Looking in the other direction

 Walking along the river, on the opposite side from the city park, with the temporary art exhibition that I've also showed from other angles in a couple of earlier posts.

 

You can see the sun is very low here this time of year, even around noon!

My own nativity set at home. It sits on a shelf in my study.

Angelic choir singing on the window sill, also in my study. They're all gifts from friends. The second from the left I've had since early childhood, the others have come along one by one in later decades...

In the afternoon, I had a Skype video chat with my brother, as has also become a tradition (even before the pandemic) when we don't meet in person at Christmas. 

Today, back to grey and slushy weather, which I'll take as an excuse to just be lazy and stay in and read and watch old favourites on TV/DVD etc. 

Happy Christmas to all friends around the world, however you're celebrating (or not)!

 

The Angels

It's my tradition to put up my Christmas decorations gradually from 1st Advent to Christmas. For 3rd Advent and St Lucy's Day, I put up my Angels.

 

 

The Happy Angelic Choir sings on the window sill in my study.
All of them were gifts from friends through the years.

 

Three glass angels and a glass Christmas tree reside in the living room window.
These too were all gifts from friends, on various occasions.

 

 

 

My old porcelain Christmas angel (left) and the small one-piece (plastic) crib in my bedroom window were given to me in my early childhood by two 'old ladies', cousins of my grandmother.  The three little wooden shepherds were a gift from a penfriend in Germany.  And the porcelain angel who likes to climb flower pots came as a gift from a friend as well.

 

I like the fact that all the angels came flying into my life one by one over the years, and as gifts. It reminds me that friends are 'angels' (messengers and helpers) too! :)

 

December 24 – Chrismas Eve

December 15 - The Angelic Choir

Laundry, vaccuming, and unpacking the angelic choir.
There's another December day gone by! 

The calendar angel seems happy to have company at last. (Obviously she can't wait for Christmas - having already set the date forward one day, thinking I would not notice...)

Weekend Reflections & Shadows

I have to confess I’m suffering from writer’s block just now. My thoughts seem to escape and wander off, refusing to get trapped into words and organised to make sense of things…

It’s been a week of big black news headlines.

First it was my own country, Sweden, reintroducing border controls in the south (on Thursday 12th Nov), in an attempt to cope with the rapidly increasing number of refugees arriving by ferries, or across the bridge from Denmark. (10.000 seeking asylum here only last week.)

Then on Friday 13th there was the terror attack in Paris, which probably hasn’t escaped anyone, wherever you live.

For now I’m really just making note of the dates here for my own memory. And repeating, as I wrote to a friend earlier today: I so do not envy the leading politicians and officials (in Sweden and elsewhere) who right now have to stay alert 24/7, making lots of important decisions, one upon another. And in between have to try to explain it all to the media and the rest of us.

The last three photos are from the memorial chapel in the cemetery close to where I live; which was open to visitors for prayer and reflection at Halloween.

Linking to:

Weekend Reflections

 Shadow Shot Sunday 2