Hey, bright eyes

Night now goes great and mute

Silence rules all things

What is that murmuring

As of angel's wings

There on our threshold 

White robed and shining

Comes she with bread to spare

Our need divining

-from "Santa Lucia" 

Rinsing off the bowls crusty with the remains of minestrone soup, a dinner which had been shared with our lovely friends from across the street, I reflected upon the near perfection of the day and experienced a deep sense of the goodness in ordinary living. This December 13th had been a day full of the delights of Swedish pepperkaker, crunchy and gingery in four tiny mouths; a day full of song as the five of us sang, quite out of tune, the traditional Santa Lucia song to our long-time, cherished friends the Obergs; a day full of rejoicing in the lives of those present with us and those absent from us, those both living and dead (oh, how my father and my Uncle Russ would have loved some coffee and gingerbread cookies - after all, we are Swedes); a day which was made more wonderful, more complete with an early evening phone call from our brother-in-law, Dan, announcing the arrival of his son, our nephew, Magnus Robert.

Our beautiful, Lucia Bride

 

PS - In the icon, Saint Lucia is holding out a dish containing her own eyes, gouged out during her martyrdom. What is it about that little detail that makes me love her even more?