"I hope there is some truth down in my bones"

[mrissa]

The light isn't back yet.

What do you mean these are the rituals we have. We're doing the right things. We're baking the bread, we're singing the songs, we're lighting the candles, what do you mean the light isn't back yet. Why don't we have better rituals. Why don't we have something that will fix this dark.

And the answer is: because it is December, pals. It is December, and that is not what these rituals are for. We don't knead saffron into enriched dough and light fires and hold our loved ones close because it will change astronomy. That is literally not what we're doing here. These are the right things to be doing not because they will alter the fundamental nature of science but because they're what we've got while the inexorable nature of the universe keeps working. This warmth, this goodness, this humanity is what we've got that we can control--because the timing of the Solstice is out of our control.

Yes, I'm totally talking about the Solstice, why do you ask? That is definitely what I'm talking about here.

And at the beginning of the day--no, not the end of the day, Santa Lucia is a beginning of the day holiday--at the beginning of the day, it is better to knead the dough that rose really well but for some reason is still a really tough knead. It is better to clear the epic plough ridge from the end of the walk. It is better to mask up in public places. It is better to keep doing the best we can, even knowing that the best we can is not an immediate fix, because immediate fixes are not the only thing we have, comfort and joy and mitigation are also worth having for themselves. And lussekatter. Lussekatter are definitely worth having for themselves.

Happy Santa Lucia Day. Keep trying.

2020: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=2953

2019: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=2654

2018: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=2376

2017: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=1995

2016: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=1566

2015: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=1141

2014: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=659

2013: https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=260

2012: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/840172.html

2011: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/796053.html

2010: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/749157.html

2009: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/686911.html

2008: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/594595.html

2007: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/2007/12/12/ and https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/502729.html

2006: https://mrissa.dreamwidth.org/380798.html — the post that started it all! Lots more about the process and my own personal lussekatt philosophy here!

Comments

[anne]

<3

... fifteen years, good heavens

[mrissa]

It has indeed been a minute.

[okrablossom]

Thank you.

[themagdalen]

Thank you.

[arkessian]

Thank you.

There are times I wish for a 'Like' button, and then realise it would never be enough. One must actively engage with the body (the fingers) to say: yes, and yes, and a thousand times yes.

[mrissa]

Thank you for doing that.

[aamcnamara]

Happy Santa Lucia Day. We are all we have, and that means we have to do what we can with that. <3

[mrissa]

Yes. <3

[sonia]

The first long paragraph surprised me into heartfelt tears. “… comfort and joy and mitigation are also worth having in themselves.” Yes! Thank you for putting all of this into words.

[mrissa]

Glad to be here.

[sartorias]

Happy Saint Lucia day to you!

I was just remembering that my mom and grandmother used to go to Solvang every year to celebrate. Which has over the decades turned into a hideous tourist trap, but they still loved having pancakes amid all the Swedish tat.

[mrissa]

The thin Swedish pancakes, with the lingonberries? yum.

[sartorias]

Yup--several other dishes as well.

[oracne]

Yes.

[thistleingrey]

Yes.

[swan_tower]

I always love these posts of yours.

[mrissa]

Thanks, my friend.

[pameladean]

All of your lussekatter posts are the best, as good for me as the thing itself, but this one is a kind of super-best. Or maybe it is just the usual standard but so much more needed.

I have gazed upon the vegan lussekatter recipe once again. It looks perfectly plausible. But it is not the baking time of month with me. Maybe next year.

P.

[mrissa]

I have been known to make them other times. For T's birthday a couple of times, or other times we need extra light.

<3

[kore]

Thank you, I really needed this.

[mrissa]

Hang in there, buddy.

[athenais]

I will never not love your Lucia posts. They mean so much to me. My dough rose very well in spite of the rain, too.

Glad lucia! 🕯🕯🕯🕯

[mrissa]

Thank you, Glad Lucia! I'm glad your dough rose well!

[gwynnega]

I always love these posts. Thank you.

[mrissa]

<3

[hawkwing_lb]

Thank you for this.