Pancake stack
and candlelight. Roman
times, today's delight. New impulses brought
inside, new rituals
shine so bright.
Last Tuesday was Chandeleur, or Candlemas, here in France. It's a Christian celebration, that seems to be celebrated, like many traditional celebrations around Europe, by performing rituals that may very well have pagan or simply very practical roots. Like eating pancakes. I read somewhere this might have to do with consuming eggs and milk before they go bad in spring.
Ah well, we love pancakes. So we took Chandeleur to mean Pancake Day. And we celebrated. By eating that stack of pancakes.
Poetry Found Elsewhere
Well, we may have seen the first signs of spring, but it’s still winter. And this beautiful, dreamy poem shows it can be a great thing: Fairy Dusk by A. Christine Myers. Don’t forget to subscribe to her substack as well, she’ll regularly send you wonderful poems like this one.
Poetry can also be found in music. Not just the lyrics, but also in the music itself. Or the combination. My hometown, The Hague, is also home to one of the most legendary rock bands of The Netherlands, Golden Earring. Today news broke that founding guitar player George Kooymans is seriously ill and will stop performing. Mind you, the band was founded in the 1960s and is, up until today, one of the oldest still active bands in the world. Obviously, when news like this breaks, there is some sadness. But also the urge to celebrate music. So, for your enjoyment, I made a playlist of a couple of Golden Earring songs, and some other songs from the music scene in The Hague: