Happy Saint Nikolaus

Pete is leaving today, too early for me, sorry, so Prince is taking him and I sleeeeeeep...
Oh... what heavenly tranquility here. The only 'disturbance' are those sweetly singing birds and the sound of the wind ruffling the leaves. Funny, that sound always reminds me of the soothing play of waves. Schhhhhhhh... Schhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Schhhhhhhhhhhh
It is also the sound of me sleeping some more.
In our modern world quiet is pure luxury. And so is clean air and so is space. I can't even imagine what the future will behold, when mankind explodes into double the billions of now.
Where will they all go for peace and quiet?
For fresh air?
For romance?
Will there be any trees left?
Any animals, like elephants?
Any giant cats?
A recent article in National Geographic (one of the magazines I subscribe to, along with Conde Nast and Vanity Fair) shocked me tremendously. The numbers of endangered-ready to be erased from Earth forever- species has fallen drastically in as little as the past 50 years. How can we have done so much damage in such short time? It just doesn't fit in my head.
   Black Rhino
Since 1970, the Black Rhino population, native to southern and east Africa, has declined by 90% to less than 3,000.
  Giant Panda
Within a few short years, Giant Pandas could be facing extinction. Fewer than 1,000 remain in their native habitat of China. The main reason for their decline is due to loss of natural habitat and poaching.


  Tiger
These magnificent cats are native to tropical zones in Southeast Asia and temperate regions like the Russian Far East. Less than 6,000 tigers remain in the wild...


So just imagine the eyes of a child, wild with joy and excitement when looking at a Disney Classic like Jungle book. "Mom, mom, come fast fast...mom... What is this stripy big cat? Why is it so big and fat?"
"Oh, honey, this is a tiger, the are enormous... but they don't exist any more... Aren't (weren't) they beautiful?"




It is Saint Nikolaus today, a typical German tradition:


In Roman Catholic areas of southern Germany, such as Bavaria, Sankt Nikolaus still comes as a bishop with flowing beard and a bishop's miter and staff. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and children clean and polish their shoes or boots in preparation for the saint's visit. On the evening before St. Nicholas Day, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white horse or donkey on a plate or in their shoes. These are left outside, under the bed, beside a radiator, or on a windowsill in hopes of finding goodies from St. Nicholas the next morning. During the night Sankt Nikolaus goes from house to house carrying a book in which all the children's deeds are written. If they have been good, he fills their plate, shoe or boot with delicious fruits, nuts and candies. If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs.




Okay, in modern days all that is left, is the part of kids polishing their boots (preferably the highest and biggest, to collect more stuffings), leaving them outside the door and when the first light tickles their noses, they are up to raid the gifts Nikolaus has left for them. Today it is gifts children want, but when I grew up it was just some chocolates, some nuts and fruit. Apples... and if it was a good year (if Nikolaus got lucky), Oranges and bananas. Bananas and oranges, they were rare goods behind the iron wall and treasured just like gold.
If Nikolaus* was kind enough to bring the gold (*we used to get Xmas parcels from our friends in West Germany) mom would cut the treasured fruit and serve it on bread slices. Like this, we had more gold for longer.
And today? I can walk into any market, any time of the year and buy as many Chiquitas and Vitamin C balls as I wish. Just like that.






I don't think Prince polished any boots, specially for Nikolaus, because his shoes are always perfectly polished. Opposites do attract, it proofs once again, because my boots (only the everyday riding boots) have enough dirt to tell my whereabouts of the past year. I have just a cute little gift for Prince. i reckon he does not care much for bananas either, even though he grew up in country that had issued a BANANA BAN.
YES!
BANANAS?
And since we are already there, do you know why we say: Going bananas?


Trying to google the prefect answer for you I came across this interestingly confusing blog...
www.goingbananasblog.com
But not the answer I searched for. I was sure, that I once read that going bananas came from the time, when bananas where shipped back from Africa on long sweaty journeys. Of course, under such sauna conditions, most fruit will go bad fast and so did bananas. But apparently bananas give out a toxin when rotting, which then turned the sailors crazy. Funnily enough, I seem to find no evidence of this facts on the net at all. Either I read rubbish or the net has not been to keen on bananas yet.
Let's keep it an amusing myth for now and next time you feel like going bananas remember it for me.


So I better get up now to fill his pantoffels. Pantoffel is the German word for house-shoe, a very funny sounding word, even in my own language. It reminds of candle carrying, sleeping hat and white gown wearing grandpas from the times before electricity. His pantoffels, naturally, are BIRKENSTOCKS.
Comfy, cozy and bio, they are hippy-businessman cool. They are also good for Prince's flat-feed, which are a constant source of pain. With Top-Model Heidi Klum designing one fashionable cork-sole collection in 2008, this pantoffels got a whole new life and the Rasta-dude, pipe smoking surf-bump became an image of the past.
They are the smallest (volume-filling-wise) shoes (next to his flip-flops) in Prince's closet and perfectly sized when it comes down to Nikolaus-stuffings.
Since my present is tiny, a small shoe-cave will make it look much bigger.
Personalized collar stays, with naughty messages will be the fillers for my pantoffel-hero.
From www.redenvelope.com
Check them out, they have cute stuff, but sadly do not ship to Europe...Luckily we were in NY and so I got it send to 70 Park...

Prince returns rather late and I am ready to question the distance to the airport, when he pulls a bunch of roses-mixed with eucalyptus and some beautiful branches of prickly holly from behind his back. Ohhhh, what a Darling, he did not forget my German roots at all.
I am officially impressed! Especially when I discover naughty panties hidden in the bunch of reds. They have H-O-P-E written on them, I wonder if he is sending a message?


Happy Saint Nikolaus


I will go back to decorating...