Sunday morning thoughts – November 26, 2023

Grumpy edition?

To be honest, I have no idea if I’ll still be grumpy at the end of this. We’ll just have to see.

You know when the weather forecast shows clouds, rain, possibly snow and no chance of the sun making an appearance and you’re sitting on the sofa looking at the sun. That’s the kind of thing that makes me grumpy this Sunday morning. Especially because I’m not ready to go outside. I would have to get dressed (and wrap up warm as it’s close to freezing) and possibly have a shower before I go where people are. TMI? Possibly, but I got some cleaning and a sweaty workout to do, and I don’t feel like having two showers today. I just don’t.

Anyway, this week I got caught out by a cultural difference. One that I’m well aware of but still … In Switzerland you ask “is this seat free” (“esch do no frei”) if you want to sit somewhere. In this case it was in a pretty crowded university cafeteria. I asked in Swiss German and got two replies – one was “yes” one was “no”. Very confusing. Of course the person who said no could have been waiting for somebody else and was saving that one seat next to them. All possible. Luckily, a third person who knew them both stepped in and said that the seats were not taken.

I’m now wondering why the question in English is “is this seat taken” and in German we ask if the seat is “free”. I think Swedish and French are the same as German. Feel free to comment about other languages you might know. In my example it turned out that the student who said “no” was an international student who figured I’d asked “is this seat taken” and it wasn’t. The student who said “yes” was Swiss and used to people asking if the seat was “free”. What can I say, I love stuff like that.

Then there was Black Friday with all its sales. Right … where do I start? We don’t have Thanksgiving here – but we still have Black Friday. Nobody knows what it is and why it’s called that. Well, not nobody, but you know what I mean. So, I figured I needed a new belt and since I hate shopping for clothes, I at least wanted a discount for my pain. I went to a random shop and asked where their belts were. I got asked “belts for men or women?”. Well dear, I don’t know. The kind that stop your pants from falling down. Seriously! Do I look like I care? Anyway, found a belt and it was 30% off. I was in and out of that shop in under five minutes.

I also figured a new pair of pants might be a good idea. That was another shop. I couldn’t find my size. Well, I found my size but not the short people version. I was told that that didn’t exist. Well, I was wearing a pair … no point arguing though. They didn’t have it. Note to self: when you finally find pants that fit you buy a couple of them not just one pair.

The one thing I like shopping for is books. Only complaint I have – could bookshops not order their books by color? You know like some of us do at home. I can never remember the author or title of a book, but I will ALWAYS know the color of its back cover.

**I need to interrupt here. First Christmas song of the season on the radio right now - first one I hear I mean. It’s Happy Christmas by John Lennon.**

Sorry about that. I’m just glad it wasn’t Wham! Or Mariah Carey [back to add - at 11.09 they are now playing All I want for Christmas is you]. Where was I – oh yes, books. I ended up looking at my *to-read* pile and didn’t buy anything new. It’s 10.20 at the moment and the sales end at midnight. So maybe I should say “I haven’t bought any new books yet”. That would be more honest, I think.

Then there was Friday night. I don’t think I’ve ever been out in Zurich on a Friday night – like EVER. It was crowded and you really can’t just show up at a restaurant and expect to get a table. Doesn’t work that way. Now I know. The lights were pretty though. This was in the Old Town around 7 PM - before it got crowded.

Christmas light - Zurich Old Town, November 24, 2023

This week I got inspired to write about healing from trauma and how it really doesn’t mean being happy all the time when you come out other end. Not that there is an end to the process. It means that you have gone where it hurts and have processed those difficult emotions related to your trauma. I’m also not sure if there’s a way of knowing if there’s more – unresolved – trauma left. Anyway, I’ll leave that to an expert to figure out. I might have mentioned before that some more family trauma (the kind that’s passed down through generations) has announced itself. Stay tuned for that.

And there’s going to be something on how I might no longer get triggered in a way that starts a downward spiral because I have done the work - but that doesn’t mean I’m unaffected by the things I read, hear, see. It might trigger a newsletter. It might trigger and increase my desire to help others process their trauma. It might also trigger a voice I didn’t know I had that is more than ready to speak up. I think I turned my triggers into something positive.

There are like 10 different posts I’m working on. New things keep happening. New topic that want to be written about right away. I had some lovely conversations this week. Each of them on subjects I need to write about.

Could we add a few more hours to the weekend please? Especially when some of us are feeling a bit crazy. Not referring to anyone in particular (looking at you Maine), but this was last night – bit of Zoom fun with a few friends.

That’s my only Christmas decoration on the right. Isn’t he adorable?

Since I didn’t ask their permission to post a picture of all of us this is what happened in my own Zoom box. I pulled out my only Christmas decoration. Of course, you cannot see the entire thing, just a big white beard. Made me laugh. Yes, I’m easily amused and yes, when I’m zooming with people there is always a clock behind me.

Looking at my smiling face in that picture, I really can’t be grumpy anymore. I’m actually feeling much better now. Thanks for reading along everyone. Hoping to see some of you later. I promise I’ll have showered by then. No promises on wearing pants though.

Gorgeous and cold day by Lake Zurich.

Leaving you with a picture I took by Lake Zurich on the only sunny day this week – it was Thursday lunch time.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!