Happy Nikolaustag

To get out of the house and the funk I have been in, B and I went to buy our Christmastree today. It's a potted blue fir with such sturdy, sharp needles that B put the lights on with his gloves.

We also went to see the local Christmas market this afternoon. The atmosphere was just wonderful with a brass band playing Christmas music on the town square. Video above has music but it was Jingle Bells being piped through from somewhere and it wasn't really as noisy either but there were kids playing on gravel all around us.

Today is Nikolaustag (St. Nick's day) and, traditionally, children clean their boots and put them in front of the door on the eve of Dec. 5 to find goodies in them on the morning of Dec. 6. If a kid has been bad over the year, which rarely happens, he/she receives boots filled with charcoals. We went to fill up the car with gas today and B actually got two free St. Nick chocolates from the station attendant. I guess, we've been good.