Silent Night, Holy Nighy

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On this Christmas day I give thanks for all the blessings of 2016.  My family and friends far and wide. My health, despite a leg fracture in May.  My freedom to travel and visit faraway places.  I hope all your wishes come true in 2017. I especially pray for peace around the world and that we experience the one human family that we are part of creating.  Today I enjoyed a Xmas concert with hundreds of others singing carols and calling forth a greater humanity through our voices. Well, I was probably the only one singing. The Latvians need to let down their hair a bit.  Amen!!

Christmas Spirit

The Latvians are just as filled with the spirit of Christmas as I remember growing up. Christmas music, mostly from America, filling the airwaves. A neighbor below me plays carols day and night. Lights strung up over the streets and adorning the trees in the park. Piparkūkās, a spicy flat cookie that I've been addicted to and are sold in bulk at the RIMI markets.  Live trees being sold at the market. Where do city dwellers plant these after the holidays, I wonder?   No Christmas would be complete without a performance of the Nutcracker Suite.  Matiss is heading off to Australia for the holidays and Antra is in Toronto with her family. We Whatsapp'd at the Archive this week so I could send her photos of documents written in Russian. It worked but we didn't discover anything new.  My family tree continues to grow. Several new limbs  have emerged and existing ones sprout new branches. My list of places to visit has expanded to several farm communities. Who knows, I may discover ancestors still working the land like centuries ago.  One hopes that the Communists didn't destroy everything that is dear to this nation.

       Cheerful street scene in Old Riga   

  Nutcracker Suite performed by Latvian National Ballet

  Wooden tree at the Christmas market--lots of local artisans

Gaismas ceļā (Path of Light)

I must say the Latvians are big on metaphor and last night's concert was no exception.  The concert was performed by over 300 musicians playing a traditional Latvian stringed instrument called the kokle.  There are basically two types: a small laptop version with about 10 strings, and a large pedestal type with up to 30 strings for playing in concerts like the one last night. It sounded like an orchestra of stringed instruments. Very powerful. I've included a link to one of my favorite kokle players. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAwRI1Ahzvw

Before 

After