After Thanksgiving (in the USA) and Sinterklaas (in the Netherlands and Belgium) are celebrated, all we have left is Christmas this year. But on all these festivities I am absent. I lie on the sofa at home and the floor around me is littered with mandarin peel.
The days are short, it freezes and much of Europe is covered by a white blanket of snow. In short: it’s time for hot chocolate by the fire and of course December is also the month that we eat the delicious, bright orange tangerines. Nothing smells as good as the aroma of the spatter that fills the room while peeling.
In the past I had a part-time job in a department store, when I studied. I always enjoyed it to work in December. Busy, sometimes hectic, but always with a good atmosphere and sometimes even hilarious. It happened to be an absurd busy day just before Christmas, that a lady asked her money back for a pack of waffles. The food was past the expiration date. Against the background of artificial Christmas trees and Christmas music the lady in question and I discussed endlessly about the fact that it was highly unusual to give money back concerning an empty package. Because only after all the waffles were eaten, she had noticed that the shelf life had expired.
Since M.E. controls my life, I know that every day is the same. I don’t care whether a day is the birthday of a saint or a day that commerce recommends you to spoil your lover, father or mother.
Nevertheless in the dark month of December I enjoy eating these tangerines. Do you know that the skin of a peeled tangerine, which is still in one part, can bring you good luck? You need to throw the skin with your right hand over your left shoulder in order to make a wish. Therefore, the crates with tangerines are filling our whole house: keep on eating and make those wishes!
I wish everyone all the best in this dark December. Take care of yourself, try to do things that bring a smile to your own face and enjoy the beautiful winter landscape or tinkling lightning.
PS 1 – A great tip from an fan of this art project:
Put a blue ribbon or small, blue object plus the label Blue Mark For M.E. in with your Christmas cards with the request to place it somewhere.
PS 2 – The recipe for hot chocolate without milk or sugar:
Put a tablespoon of cocoa into a large mug with a little water, and give it a good stir. Add two drops of Stevia, and 200 ml. rice milk (preferably vanilla flavor) and stir again. Then two minutes in the microwave at full power. And don’t forget to check the expiration date.
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This post is also available in: Dutch
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