'Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi', Merry Christmas from Estonia

[Tinker]

'Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi', Merry Christmas

The Winter Solstice ignited the light,
traditions honored through Christmas night.
The pagan, Päkapikk transformed to Christmas elf,
I wonder if he modeled our Elf on a Shelf.

Straw crowns from long ago are still around
through Advent, candles on graves will abound.
Of course feasting, blood sausage, sauerkraut,
pork, potatoes and gingerbread, prescription for gout.

But best of all happens on Christmas Eve,
in exchange for Santa's gifts to be received,
children offer a poem, with love and delight,
write from your heart, an Estonian rite.
                                       ~~Judi Van Gorder

Notes: ▼

[tonyv]

Judi, you picked an obscure one (as called for in the prompt), but one that's familiar to me … and close to my heart. Thank you for this!

But in lieu of a poem, and as an expression of solidarity -- the wildfires and all the devastation taking place on the left coast -- I'm compelled to pass along something my sister, a long time SoCal resident, sent me …

 

 

Peace,

Tony

 

 

 

[Tinker]

I chose Estonia because of you plus when I read about the poem exchange I had to write it. I posted the poem in Member Poetry rather than in the Playground so you would see it. I’m glad you liked it. 

~Judi

Thank you for the California love. The rain finally came which will reduce fire danger for awhile. 

[eclipse]

Great stuff tinker

[tonyv]

9 hours ago, Tinker said:

I chose Estonia because of you plus when I read about the poem exchange I had to write it. I posted the poem in Member Poetry rather than in the Playground so you would see it.

And thank you for that. I only knew about the prompt because I followed your footnote. 
 

14 hours ago, Tinker said:

… Of course feasting, blood sausage, sauerkraut ...

I remember my parents making this at home with friends when I was little.

 

14 hours ago, Tinker said:

… But best of all happens on Christmas Eve,
in exchange for Santa's gifts to be received,
one must offer a poem, with love and delight,
write from your heart, an Estonian rite.

And as for this, yes. We would attend Estonian church on a Sunday before Christmas, and after the service there was social time with food, coffee, etc. The most exciting part was waiting for Jõuluvana (Santa Claus) to arrive, whosever father would put on the suit and play the part that year and show up with a big bag of gifts. He would call each of the children by name, and each of us would go up and sing a song or recite a poem of our choosing to Jõuluvana and receive our gift(s). Of course, the whole thing was kind of intimidating, at least to me.  But of course, looking back it wasn't all that serious. It was something nice for all the kids. We all got gifts. 😊 

In our family, Christmas at home (dinner, gifts, etc.) was always on Christmas Eve. That's the Estonian tradition. Christmas Day we just slept in. 

Thank you again!

Tony 

[Tinker]

Thanks Barry.    I'm having a lot of fun with this daily challenge.  When the prompt said obscure, I immediately thought of Tony and Estonia which before knowing Tony, I had never heard of Estonia.  That said obscure to me.  Of course I had to post it for him.

~~Tink

[Tinker]

Tony,  I love that.  When I was researching, the first place I checked mentioned the poem exchange but subsequent articles never mentioned it.  I thought is such a great tradition that I not only included it, I made it the highlight of the poem.   I am thrilled to read that you experienced the exchange.  Nice to get the personal touch.

~~Tink

[tonyv]

27 minutes ago, Tinker said:

Tony,  I love that.  When I was researching, the first place I checked mentioned the poem exchange but subsequent articles never mentioned it.  I thought is such a great tradition that I not only included it, I made it the highlight of the poem.   I am thrilled to read that you experienced the exchange.  Nice to get the personal touch.

~~Tink

 

Well Judi, now I had to open the photo album and take trip down memory lane ...
 

 

The album says the top one is from 1974 and the bottom one is from 1977, but I think it's the other way around ...

Tony 🎅

[Tinker]

OMG Tony,  This is awesome.  Thank you for sharing.  I love this.  So cute.

~~Judi

[dcmarti1]

I love "all things Estonian".

 

And, yes, Tony was a cute child.  😛

[Tinker]

Hah Marti, so glad to see you popping in.  I miss you.

~~Tink

[dr_con]

Ahhhh the memories! 😉 TY Tink.... Have no idea where I can get good blood sausage these days, but now you have me thinking;-)

 

Juris

[Tinker]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 8:11 AM, dr_con said:

Have no idea where I can get good blood sausage these days

No offense guys but I'm not a huge sausage fan anyway and when you add the word "blood", it really sounds disgusting.   But I imagine if you ask your local butcher they could get it for you.  

~~Tink

[tonyv]

37 minutes ago, Tinker said:

No offense guys but I'm not a huge sausage fan anyway and when you add the word "blood", it really sounds disgusting.   But I imagine if you ask your local butcher they could get it for you.

I, myself, have been a vegetarian¹ for about eighteen years, but I have tried this back in the day. Some other cultures have it, too, so I've seen it for sale, for example Portuguese style. But the kind I've tried was homemade. There's the … casing. 😀 For filler I've seen barley used. And then there's the blood, obtained in gallon jugs from the butcher shop. After it's cooked, the product itself is black and to some degree crispy.

Tony 😃

1. I still eat eggs, dairy products, and seafood.

[Tinker]

Ha, we went to a brunch a while back at the home of friends from Ireland who served blood sausage.  I saw it {black} but it didn't appeal to me and once I was told it was "blood sausage" I politely declined.  My husband ate it though.  Usually I try to be adventuresome and at least try new foods, but I just couldn't take the bite he offered.   Like haggis, I couldn't do that either.  I think it is common in the British Isles and probably most Baltic countries.

~~Judi

PS a Mexican client of mine brought me "head cheese" he had made as a Christmas gift.  I politely accepted and later on asked several others if they would like to have it.  Everyone declined and I ended up throwing it away.