Kerst 2006
Henri and Susan Ceha ; Tooropkade 9 ; 2102AA Heemstede ; The Netherlands ceha@tiscali.nl
3 December 2006. Very Dear Friends and Relatives,
Only one full day left till "surprise evening" when St.Nicolas with his helper Black Peter visits all Dutch families with small children to bring small presents with rhymes about bad and good behaviour. Tension has been rising since early November.Presents are packed in unusual and often humorous manners. One of the great Dutch winter rituals just before the Xmas season.. All shopping days are madmandays.Halloween is making inroads in Holland , then comes St Maarten on 11 november and now good St.Nicolas. Adults play the game as if they are children again ; the very young ones experience Shock and awe ; the next older group are not sure if he exists but for one more year they believe just for the sake of presents.Thousands of St.Nicolases and their Peters will flock the streets on december 5 and dozens will end up in police cells for the night to sleep off their hangovers. Some will break legs or ankles , tumbling over their too long holy vestments. However , our Saint Nic is a real holy bishop , equally admired by R.C.'s and Protestants , while Santa Claus is a half crazy Bolshevik. Amen. Susan is now in the attic , packing her cadeaux (kadootjes)and rhyming the rhymes. The stormwind is howling in the trees as it is supposed to do in this time of year. The leaves which have stuck to the treebranches far too long this fall are certainly coming down now. We enjoyed the warmest months of September, October and November in the last 300 years or so. And what a year it was. I am not sure whether I should only cry and be miserable for all the destruction and death that Western supremacy has caused in the world or that I should laugh and be happy with the prosperity and wellbeing in Holland , Europe and so called Western World. I am looking forward to the multipolar world with new industrial powers like China , India , Brazil Etc. Shall they provide a better balance of power in the world and prevent further Bush/Blair like wars ?And what a year it was . Usual as usual and unusual as each new year. The only winter of last winter occurred on November 25th 2005 with an enormous anomalous heavy snowfall. So by the end of February we were longing for a bit of natural whitishness and we took off for our usual winter oasis of Mizoën , hotel Panoramique , in French Alps near Les Deux Alpes. Perfect snow conditions , perfect temperature and sunny blue skies. New experience. When you become too careful not to break necks or limbs while skiing at old age , all excitement disappears. You start late , about 11.00 , long lunch of about 1.5 hours , with pichet of plonk ,lazing in the sun improving the winter tan ,hotel by about 17.00 , hot bath , bed . Dinner. Too much food on the table. After three full perfect days , we left. Mainly because the weather began changing but also because we found it a bit boring. Accuse us of being blasé. You are right.My letters are getting monotonous. Spring remained wet and cool through June. For the first time in many many years , I did not go to Amsterdam on April 30 for queen's birthday. Too wet .Too cool. Real hot July in France , La Blachette. Petit Paradis. I think I should have been born in France. A country with great difficulties but still with many gratifications , natural beauty , great people. I remember the French student in Drew University , 1957 , after a visit with European students to US , his comment about US was :"Yes , fine country , but not enough French living here. Bloody frog! In august Sharona with fam . and Homme,Julian with Fam . and Femme , Steph with Fam . and Homme joined the crowd at Julians hideaway in Ardeche , named St.Lager at 900 meters altitude. Tne evenings were cool enough to get a woodfire going and there was enough autumn in the air to get meadows full with Champignons Roseatre. The woods rustle with wild piggies, boars , sangliers which also love the mushrooms . They plow the meadows like tractors. One of you asked me for a new recipe. Buy a couple of dozen duck stomachs.( best cleaned in French Auchan stores). Fry them slowly in olive oil. Add any number of herbs and spices and let simmer in dry white wine for an hour or so. Delicious.Good but unusual. Stuffed cows udder(teats on !) Ask your butcher to get you a well cleaned not too large cows udder. Leave some hair on outside for extra barbecued flavour . Stuff ( farce , farcie) with clams , mussels ,unions ,oatmeal , lots of garlic ,cloves, herbs spices , whatevers. Sow sides carefully together. Start with very hot oven such that outside sears. Put on low heat, slow cooking for next four hours and serve with teats up. Better than Scottish Haggis.( They say !)My page is almost filled and the best part of the year is still to come. It started on the 1st of September in Chateau Neercanne , just South of Maastricht , smack on the border with Belgium.The occasion , the 80th birthday of my sister Maria and the 75th birthday of my brother Joseph. A splendid dinner party with aperitive on the beautiful terasses and "Trou Normand"in one of the limestone grottos behind the castle. Next 2 and 3 september the great , once every ten years , CEHA family reünion. Only the progeny/offspring of my father Jules and his twinbrother Henri. I guess a total of between 75 and 100 participants. An abolutely splendid reünion in splendid Belgian environment of Queen Fabiola Home in Maasmechelen it was. Very fitting also because the Ceha family came as fugitives from Belgium in the august days of 1914 after the invading huns (Krauts,moffen) had burned their home in Aerschot to the ground. I could fill another page. We are fine , children and grandchildren even finer. We love you and we wish you a very happy healthy peaceful and zalig Kerstfeest. En Gelukkig Nieuwjaar. Love and Kisses , Henri and Susan. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth (J.P.Souza)
posted by HenriBC at 3:47 AM
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