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Restarting the light

I think I am not the only one who feels a wave of relief in these pandemic times every morning that I wake up without a fever, without a cough, without anything to signify that I am getting sick. I read recently that loss of sense of smell is one of the early signs, and so I had two reasons to be happy that I woke up and smelled saffron and yeast from the next story down.

Last night I stirred up the lussekatter to rise while I was sleeping.

I’ve never made lussekatter in spring before, never made them when the thaw was so thoroughly thawed that the snow pile in the circle was half-dirt. I’ve made them for something other than Santa Lucia Day before, specifically for Tim’s birthday, but he was out of the country for his birthday this year and hadn’t had anything I’d baked for him. When I asked if he wanted pumpkin bread as a social distancing treat (I still might do that next week…or later this week depending on how fast we eat the lussekatter…), he paused and said, “Actually….”

So here we are, kneading the dough, singing some different songs, trying to bring back a different kind of light. It’s not Lucia Day, friends, but sometimes we need another candle anyway. Sometimes we need to put our backs into a little more care for each other and a little more hope for goodness in the world. Support the health care workers and the food workers and infrastructure workers who are keeping us all as safe as they can manage, be kind to each other, and bring back whatever light you can in whatever way you know how. It’s not Santa Lucia Day, but we’ll do the work apart-together anyway.

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