God Jul to all of you!

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Hans Schrøder - 23 Dec 2005 21:03 GMT

I guess you all understood what 'God Jul' meant? No? Ok, 'God' means 'good'
or 'nice' and 'Jul' means 'Yule'... Norwegian holiday greeting.

But where did the word 'Jul' come from? One explanation is that in
pre-Christian ages, people looked upon the sun as a wheel (Norw. 'hjul'),
and that this celebration is for the winter solstice and the sun. I beleive
this is true...

Anyway, in a couple of hours I will be on my way to Trondheim, 550 km north
of Oslo where I live. Going to see my family for a couple of days. The cats
will once again be left alone in the flat in Oslo, but I'm sure they're
going to have a nice time, sleeping a lot, eating and playing. I wouldn't
have done it this way if I only had one cat, but with two it's much easier.

All of us here, Tinùviel, Teti and myself wish you a joyful and relaxing
Jul, where we all can get energy and forget our everyday problems for a
while.

Take care of yourselves, your families and your animals... And may there be
peace on earth, let's purr for that.

Signature

Hans Schrøder
han-schr@online.no

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Jo Firey - 23 Dec 2005 21:44 GMT

>I guess you all understood what 'God Jul' meant? No? Ok, 'God' means 'good'
>or 'nice' and 'Jul' means 'Yule'... Norwegian holiday greeting.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> Take care of yourselves, your families and your animals... And may there
> be peace on earth, let's purr for that.

A choir from Norway has already done a great deal to give me a joyful Yule.
There was a special on public television here from a wonderful and very old
cathedral in Norway. The music was wonderful.

Now this was extra special for me. I haven't been able to enjoy music, not
even Christmas music for over ten years. When my hearing started to go the
first problem was all music began to sound flat. I reached the point where
I was profoundly deaf, and had a Cochlear Implant in May of this year.

It hasn't been a lot of help with music, though I could now enjoy the
rhythm and some very clear tones. Much is still quite monotone as machines
just aren't close to matching the human ear.

When the special came on I was home alone so there was no competing sound.
And I started to watch it because the cathedral was so great and watching
the way the choir enjoyed performing was a sweet reminder of my years in a
choir. But as I listened I found I was hearing a lot more than I expected.
No I wasn't getting the full spectrum, but I was getting far more than a
single tone. I was getting some of the soprano separately and some of the
higher instruments. Some of the bass was separating as well. It was a
wonderful experience.

Planning to get some old CD's out and go somewhere and use my car as a sound
booth.

Jo

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jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt@sonic.net - 23 Dec 2005 21:59 GMT

> When the special came on I was home alone so there was no competing sound.
> And I started to watch it because the cathedral was so great and watching
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> higher instruments. Some of the bass was separating as well. It was a
> wonderful experience.

That really is wonderful, Jo - how great! I don't know what I'd do if
I couldn't listen to music. Well, I guess I'd adjust, as you have, but
music is one of my life's primary joys, so it would be a painful
adjustment. So glad you got to enjoy the choir.

A friend of mine got a cochlear implant 4 years ago, and I've heard
that over time, the brain learns to interpret the signals it gets from
the implant (with some help and much twiddling from the techicians),
which results in the implant being more effective as your body adjusts
to it. So maybe your ability to hear music will improve even more.

Joyce

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Jo Firey - 24 Dec 2005 00:46 GMT

> > When the special came on I was home alone so there was no competing
> > sound.
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> which results in the implant being more effective as your body adjusts
> to it. So maybe your ability to hear music will improve even more.

That's what I'm hoping. Not to get back what I had but to get more out of
what I have now.

I need to work harder to use it to hear and not depend so much on visual
ques.

Enjoying that program will be a lot of incentive to work harder.

Jo

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CatNipped - 23 Dec 2005 22:11 GMT

And Meowy Kissamouse to you to Hans, I hope your Christmas is a joyful one
as well.

Hugs,

CatNipped

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mlbriggs - 24 Dec 2005 01:37 GMT

> I guess you all understood what 'God Jul' meant? No? Ok, 'God' means 'good'
> or 'nice' and 'Jul' means 'Yule'... Norwegian holiday greeting.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> Take care of yourselves, your families and your animals... And may there be
> peace on earth, let's purr for that.

I hope you have a reliable neighbor who knows the furry ones are in there
alone.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas. MLB

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Marina - 24 Dec 2005 05:18 GMT

> I guess you all understood what 'God Jul' meant? No? Ok, 'God' means 'good'
> or 'nice' and 'Jul' means 'Yule'... Norwegian holiday greeting.

It's the same in Swedish. God jul, Hans!

> But where did the word 'Jul' come from? One explanation is that in
> pre-Christian ages, people looked upon the sun as a wheel (Norw. 'hjul'),
> and that this celebration is for the winter solstice and the sun. I beleive
> this is true...

And that the big wheel of time starts its next turn. That's what I
celebrate, too, though I do it a few days late, because that's when
everyone is on holiday, so I can celebrate with my family.

Signature

Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

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Lisa Katt - 24 Dec 2005 11:16 GMT

>> I guess you all understood what 'God Jul' meant? No? Ok, 'God' means 'good'
>> or 'nice' and 'Jul' means 'Yule'... Norwegian holiday greeting.
>
>It's the same in Swedish. God jul, Hans!

God jul to everyone from Elisabet in Sweden

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Hans Schrøder - 27 Dec 2005 05:55 GMT

> Anyway, in a couple of hours I will be on my way to Trondheim, 550 km
> north of Oslo where I live. Going to see my family for a couple of days.
> The cats will once again be left alone in the flat in Oslo, but I'm sure
> they're going to have a nice time, sleeping a lot, eating and playing. I
> wouldn't have done it this way if I only had one cat, but with two it's
> much easier.

I'm back again, after three days away from my loved ones.

They were perfectly all right, there was still food and water left, and no
accidents had happened, except from the normal accidents like things pushed
from the book shelves and so on...

But they were SO happy to see me again, they started talking about what it
had been like without me, even before I unlocked the door to get in :-)

Anyway, the trip to Trondheim was good for me, met my father at the nursing
home where he lives, and had a very nice time with the rest of the family
the rest of the time. Good food, presents, lots of talking and laughter. I'm
glad I went.

Hans

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Yoj - 27 Dec 2005 08:30 GMT

> > Anyway, in a couple of hours I will be on my way to Trondheim, 550 km
> > north of Oslo where I live. Going to see my family for a couple of days.
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Hans

It sounds like the perfect trip, with the perfect ending.

Joy

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Lucy's Mom - 28 Dec 2005 00:18 GMT

>> > Anyway, in a couple of hours I will be on my way to Trondheim, 550 km
>> > north of Oslo where I live. Going to see my family for a couple of days.
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
>Joy

It's wonderful to see family and friends but wonderful to come home to
our kitties, too.

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