Saturday, January 20

 

 

I started the day with a 40 minute walk that I have worked out, and now takes me exactly forty minutes. While I walked I listened to a new album by the Lost Bayou Ramblers that I had heard took cajun music in a new direction. That it certainly did. It certainly contained plenty of cajun music but not in the usual form, and not with the usual production. I liked it.

After brunch we cleaned the house and then cleaned ourselves and then cleaned snow from the drains. Finally we got ready to drive to Itis to see the sales. Standing outside, waiting for Irma, I notice this lantern in the snow. It reminds me of a lot of things about winter and they remind me of a lot of things about Auo. I look at it from various angles; almost the only piece of colour in the vicinity. Finally I photograph it just as Irma shuts the front door.

We will wander the entire length of the mall, looking hither and thither. We look in Indiska to start with and then work our way down to Stockmann at the far end. Finally we will go down to the Alko and buy a bottle of wine.

After this we drive to Prisma to buy food and end up with everything we need for prawns, chilli, water chestnuts and rice. At home I will slice water chestnuts while Irma does things on the stove.

We discovered this morning that we now have no television channels at all, and so after dinner I will read The Big Bazaar Story to Irma, using a variety of different accents.

We will finish the evening with a bottle of dreadful sparkling wine that Naa gave us. We will learn tomorrow that it started as one of a pair, and that Naa and Roosa poured a glass each from the first bottle, spat it out and poured the rest of the bottle down the sink.

We will understand why.