In april we were working like crazy to hand in a tender for a new clinic. The deadlines were looming, no breaks, little sleep and intense teamwork. In the middle of some calculations I heard myself singing Christmas carols. I was not surprised. My favorites are songs like “In the bleak Midwinter” and others with a slow, calming rhythm and with texts that places the Christmas wonder in the middle of our lives. No matter how hectic Christmas preparations may be, I hum these carols and know in my heart that it does not matter at all what you do or not do. Sooner or later Christmas will come, and I will be happy and content.
In fact Christmas never leaves my heart completely, and as I was finishing the spreadsheet in the spring sunshine, I hummed along, “Frosty snow did fall” .My song reminded me of all the times chaos has ended in cosmos and all the times we have been able to finish in time. Of course we did this time too, working through weekends and nights, but we did it, and succeeded. The new rehab clinic will open in January.
In december I write an advent blog in Norwegian together with my brother, Trygve. This year our theme is Gifts. My thinking will go along these lines, how to strain the ears of your soul to listen through the stress, through what you have to do, to who you are. Having read the books by Jan-Phillip Sender this fall, I call it listening for the heartbeat of Christmas. To me, that is the peaceful, comforting, steady pulse that makes me able to stay through real challenges. I just have to listen past the jingle bells, through to the falling snow.
I will occasionally post the texts in english too, but not every day. For those of you who want to see my photos in advent or who understand norwegian, this is the link www.julefryd.com see you there!
Indexyourlife 
Hi Solvieg! I tried to comment on the Advent blog you and your brother write, but could not get my comment to be accepted. So I have copied and pasted it here. Just like last year, I am reading all of your advent posts. Of course, I must do it using Google Translate, and so, sometimes the result is quite amusing. But I am always able to find the heart of your writing! My mother used to tell me the joy of an orange at Christmas time. She and her 3 siblings would each get an orange in the toe of their stockings. My mother was born in 1915, imagine, almost 100 years ago! Back then, in Ohio, in the winter, it took a lot of planning and money to find 4 oranges in December. My grandparents were poor farmers, and Christmas was the time that the year’s necessities were given: That year’s pair of shoes, new knitted gloves, hat and scarf, a book or some paper for school, etc. But they would sacrifice every year to give each of their children one exotic, rare orange…a taste of summer in the middle of a hard, cold winter.
When I grew up, there was always an orange in the toe of our stockings. It was not the rarity that it had been for my mother, but it was our family tradition and my brother and I always pulled it out with delight, as my mother would tell the story each year of her Christmas orange.
Now Lanny and I have our own orange tree in our back yard…but we keep up the tradition, and always put an orange in the toe of our stockings. Whoever is with us on Christmas also gets a stocking and of course an orange, and I tell my mother’s story. I am comforted that our son and nieces and nephews…and our mentored girls, all know my mother’s story!