Hvidskinnende, perfektrund fuldmåne i morgenmørket, svævende lige over trætoppene og hustagene mod vest.
Kold, næsten frostklar luft møder mine endnu brusebadsvarme næsebor. Knasen af novembertynd is under mine hænder på trampolinens kant.
Karlsvognen midt over mit hovede – en halv himmelbredde fra Månen, og dog blegnende i dens skær.
Dybmørke træsilhouetter hvilende i åens vindstilleblanke måneoplyste spejl.
Måne, del stilheden med mig!
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These days my life is mostly filled with little things. All the big and important stuff is there of course, finding an apartment, looking for a new job, pondering what to do with me now that I am no longer travelling, but the things that make me smile are the other things, the little things.
Last Sunday (the 6th) was my birthday – my first under my Mother’s roof since I turned 19. Ever since I can remember the breakfast table would always be loaded with presents for our birthdays – as a child it seemed positively magic, this pile of parcels sparkling in the candlelight (when your birtday is in November, don’t count on too much daylight for breakfast 😉 ) with the flags and paper streamers. Even the years we did not have so much she was very good at making it seem like a lot, wrapping not just the “real” presents but also the coat and new boots we’d need for winter anyway and the underwear and socks. I even remember getting socks individually wrapped – it was great fun 🙂
This year was no exception, though the pile was not enhanced by single-issue socks:
We’ve had a big pumpking sitting around for some time. I think they planned to pickle it or carve it for Halloween, but everybody kept being to busy to do anything about it. As I hate seeing potential food wasted, one afternoon Christoffer (who is a glutton for pickled pumpkin), his friend Julius and I undertook the emptying of the pumpkin. Here they are, bravely scooping out the weblike, smelly and slimy innards of the pumpkin in preparation for cutting out its flesh. Points for Julius who jammed his small hand in there and started scooping away while the rest of us were still wrinkling our noses and going *idrk*.
Also points for Christoffer who stuck with it even after the first hours, despite the temptation to let pumpkin be pumpkin and go play Playstation with Julius instead of stirring the vinegary smelling pickling pot and waiting for the last batch of pumpkin pieces to turn clear and tender-boiled.
They did not waste the remainder of the pumpkin either.
And even stood still for a long exposure so the flash would not drown out the gleam in its eyes.
… And apart from the batch we pickled I now also have pumpkin in the freezer 🙂 On Saturday parts became spiced pumpkin rolls (mmmm, a little Christmassy taste ahead of time, and only getting better loaded with butter) and I ponder what to do with it for Thanksgiving. Because after having Thanksgiving last year in Ithaca I was so taken with it that I decided to import it to Denmark – or to my family at least – and now I’m trying to figure out what to cook. I suppose that’s part of the fun of starting a tradition, but there are an awful lot of dishes to choose from. In case anyone in America (or anyone else with an opinion) reads this, please tell me, what is your favorite dish for this holiday?
On November 10th it’s Mortens Aften (the evening of Morten) in Denmark, a remainder from when we were all Christian. It’s the evening before the saint day of Morten, who was so pious he did not want to be chosen as bishop, so when they came to give him the office, he ran and hid in the goose and duck pen. But the birds quacked and gave him away, and so it’s traditional to eat duck that evening, presumably to get back at them… Or their decendants at least 😉
After two very tasty ducks – of course cooked by Lasse on his favorite thing in the world, his Weber globe grill – we had the most Danish of all Danish desserts, rødgrød med fløde. Apart from looking quite decorative in all its simplicity, also quite the tonguetwister for anyone not Danish-speaking. Can you say it?
This weekend Christoffer helped me out in the kithcen, baking cakes for a past-the-date birthday celebration. It always makes me so happy to have someone to cook for 🙂
Here are some of the people helping me consume it.
My Mother is just as Christmas-crazy as I am (or perhaps it’s the other way around), but Lasse is not too fond of all our window clings, little elfs and other cozy-bringers. I suspect she’s finding other means, so she can start early without annoying him – she just put out this decoration which to me screams “almost-but-not-quite” December 😉
I lørdags havde Mor og Lasse inviteret familien til spisning. Selvom jeg stadig var jetlagged og med blærebetændelse var det rigtig hyggeligt at se dem allesammen igen. Det vil sige næsten alle sammen – Gurli og Jørgen er stadig i Egypten, jeg er næsten ikke misundelig…
Men inden I får lov til at se billeder fra lørdag er der lige nogle solnedgangsbilleder fra lufthavnen i Chicago på vej hjem – når man sidder og venter på et fly er der ikke så meget andet at give sig til 😉
Ved gaten mens jeg venter på at kunne stige ombord.
Solen gik ned lidt til højre herfor.
Og der var masser af fine skyer.
Det sidste stykke fra Bruxelles til Århus var jeg med det mindste fly jeg endnu har prøvet. 
Det svajede så meget frem og tilbage i vinden da vi skulle lande at jeg var helt overrasket over at sammenstødet med landingsbanen var så relativt afdæmpet.
Nå, men tilbage til spisningen. Først på eftermiddagen hvor tarteletterne var fortæret og folk stadig nogenlunde appelsinfri.
Lasse holdt sig ikke tilbage. Men det var også ham der havde lavet maden, så han måtte da om nogen vide at den var god 😉
Christoffer fik chokoladekage – han havde selv bagt og dekoreret den.
Den var ikke så tosset. Jeg har aldrig før prøvet kardemomme i en chokoladekage – det kan bestemt anbefales 🙂
Chrisser, Birte og Peter fik en snak
og Mathias fik en med katten.
Min Mor fik lavet en hel masse (udover mad), både masseret Nina (bemærk det zen-agtige ansitsudtryk)
og leget med Lea.
Når altså ikke Lea og Hannah havde travlt med at tigge saltstænger af Onkel Peter
,
låne Mors støvler,
eller med at overtale Daniel til narrestreger.
.
Senere, da der i den Damhøjske familietradition blev spillet Elvis og danset gik det op for mig at ved nærmere eftertanke var den konfektchokoladekage så god i min mund at jeg vist hellere må huske opskriften. Så her er den.
Kamal on his way to campus for TAing
Cornell in fall colors as I walked to the store to buy the shirt my Father wants.
And as I walked back to Upson the other way.
Ganesh in his office, fiddling with his computer and explaining to me how the continuously tipping bird is crucial to his graphics research 🙂 Those graphics people have all the fun – the other people in his office had grass growing and were filming a clock, also reportedly for the sake of graphics research. Perhaps I chose the wrong field 😉
Later that evening Ganesh came by to give Kamal an a-bit-too-late birthday gift and me an a-bit-too-early one. There was no choice but to force hot chocolate on him. He took it well 😉
He and Kamal are discussing the charms (or lack thereof) of the Family Guy movie.
… And I already got to use the deliciously sharp knife he got me for a gift. Mmm… sharp.
I’m going back to Denmark tomorrow and I’m rather sad about it.
The Leopard switched to playing on my side at chess, but quickly got frustrated with losing all the time. It pounced on the dark king when no one was looking.
That’ll teach him to win!
For my birthday Kamal got me sundae glasses (it’s not yet, it’s the 6th of november, but he didn’t think I should have to bring the present with me home unopened) remembering how I wished for them while in Japan where ice cream is always served very decoratively (as is everything else, they are big with decoration) in tall glasses with long spoons.
They work quite well for breakfast as well. Mmmm… Yoghurt with grains soaked in it overnight and pieces of cantaloupe stirred in. I conclude that decorative breakfast is much more fun than just breakfast 🙂
Smooth apple skin under the knife in my hand, the other one cupping it firmly but gently lest I’ll be reproached for stealing its hide.
Bright time-change-day sunlight on my head and back through the kitchen window, a warm embrace of midday accompanying the slicing of now-naked apples.
The smell of cinnamon and Oreo crumbs on my fingers patting the crust in place, sticky sweetness in the folds of my fingerprints.
Rasping of the brush in time with the music. A stripe of clean floor by my right hand, dirty zone to the left still awaiting my attention and another song. The scent of sweet things baking mixing with that of soapy water.
The count of the crochet stitches like a string of pearls in my mind, doubles and trebles making figures and shapes in my lap. Bright morning sunlight and the sound of a keyboard tapping, my needle instinctively following its rythm.
Everyday-life-contentment. A complete lack of the ambition expected of me.
Need there be more?
I går morges var der rimfrost på græsset og himlen var mild og vintermorgenblå. 
Da jeg så det sprang jeg straks hen og kom sengetøjet i vaskemaskinen og hængte det ud, og hele dagen gik jeg rundt og kiggede utålmodigt ud ad vinduet til det og ventede på at det skulle blive nat så jeg kunne krybe ned under det frostvejrsduftende, knitrende rene linned. Misse havde ret i at høflighed ingen penge koster, men de andre gratis glæder er nu heller ikke at foragte 🙂
Da jeg jo godt kunne indse at tøjet ikke ville tørre hurtigere af at jeg stod og sendte det våde, længselsfulde blikke, greb jeg Kamals hat og handsker (yndigt, ikke 😉 )
og vandrede ud i den frostklare luft. (Bemærk græskarret på fjernsynet ved min side. Det bliver mere og mere uhyggeligt jo mere det rynker – som en vred gammel spøgelsesmand.)
Jeg har haft fire somre det sidste år (i Wellington, i Tokyo, i Danmark, og her da jeg kom tilbage til Ithaca) men kun en vinter. Da jeg så den lave sol danse over rimfrosten og oplyse de gulnede træer
rykkedes jeg øjeblikkeligt tilbage til sidste vinter her.
Der var meget mere vand i vandfaldene, men det har også regnet i stride strømme hele den første del af ugen.
Nede i kløften hvor vandet løber var der ingen spor af morgenens frost – da jeg kom om et hjørne i stien på vej op så det nærmest sommerfrodigt ud.
På vej tilbage til huset var solen krøbet så højt op på himmelen at rimfrosten var ganske væk. Den var ellers fin da jeg gik den anden vej:
Men den lurede stadig, frosten. Foran indkørslen fandt jeg årets første vandpyt med is på 🙂
Igår aftes ved madlavningstid kiggede vi tilfældigt ud af køkkenvinduet og så 9 rådyr. Der plejer at komme et par stykker lidt inden tusmørketid, men 9 er vist rekord. De græssede, moslede og sprang rundt og nægtede at stille op til gruppefoto, så jeg kunne kun fange 5 ad gangen.
Slutteligt en anden leg: I torsdags kom Kamals venner på besøg med kage for at sige tillykke med fødselsdagen (han blev 25 i mandags). Ganesh havde taget lys med til at sætte i den kage vi lavede – bemærk hans ansigtsudtryk her hvor Kamal prøver at puste dem ud: 
Ikke længe efter gik det op for Kamal at det var selvgentændende lys, og han gik over til at prøve at klemme dem ud.
Det endte alt sammen lykkeligt med at vi spiste kage 🙂
Forsøg forefindes her. Grundet en interessant Mac <-> Blogger tegnsætkonverteringseffekt er de store Ø’er interessante. Beklager ;-/
Du har været meget i mine tanker de sidste par dage.
Jeg ved godt at du ikke læser dette her, at du er langt væk fra mig, men jeg håber alligevel at du ved at jeg tænker på dig.
(())
Jeg hævder typisk at jeg er en overmåde ussel skak(og ethvert andet strategispil)spiller. Som I her kan se er det den rene skære sandhed.
På det lille bord ved siden af sofaen hvor Leoparden som regel daser står et skakspil. Den anden morgen opdagede jeg at den var hoppet derop og havde flyttet en brik. Så kunne jeg jo ikke rigtig undslå mig for også at flytte en.
I løbet af dagen så det snart således ud:
– bemærk Leopardens snedigt eftertænksomme mine. Derudfra burde jeg nok have kunnet regne ud hvad der fulgte ikke længe efter:
Skakmat ;-(