Julia’s first project of the year was to make me fitter and thinner. I’m going along with it because it’s easier than becoming industrious and efficient.Two months in and I seem to have lost half a stone without inconveniencing myself too much. I can also walk significantly further than I could at Christmas, and my joints are feeling better.
So far it’s down to eating better, rather than eating less. The next stage is to start reducing portion sizes too. You will have to imagine the expression on my face as I type that last bit.
Storm Doris is currently whistling round the house so I’m cutting back on the walking today. I’m in the middle of an Amber Weather Warning at the moment, with gusts of wind of up to 80 mph. That’s the magic of the information age. When I was a lad “windy” would have been the only word I needed. I was certainly never on first name terms with the weather.
Squirrel stealing bird food
Anyway, now that exercise I am (slightly) smaller and fitter she is transferring her attention to a new project.
The Danes have hygge and the Norwegians have Friluftsliv . Even the Germans have Gemütlichkeit, and they aren’t a famously cheerful nation.
Julia’s new project is to discover a suitable English equivalent. We have mindfulness, though I’m not sure it’s quite the same. I incline to morosity myself, which is about as opposite to hygge as you can get. Yes, it is a word. More than that, it’s a word I’ve never used before.
Looks like we need a new word for English-style happiness. I favour something with a Scandinavian twist, because they seem to be the leaders in the field.
Julia favours something more domestic, something along the lines of “middle aged man snoring in front of the TV, which sounds more like the basis of a haiku to me.
Can you see it now?
I have translated “middle aged man snoring in front of the TV” and my favourite (“ducks and sunshine”) into various Scandinavian languages.
English: Middle aged man snoring in front of TV – ducks and sunshine
Danish: Den midaldrende mand snorken foran TV – ænder og solskin
Norwegian: Middelaldrende mann snorking fra foran TV – ender og solskinn
Swedish: En medelålders man snarkningar framför TV – ankor och solsken
Is there anything there we can use, do you think?
Julia doesn’t seem impressed; she’s just wandered off muttering “idiot with a laptop” and I don’t think it’s a suggestion for translation…
Julia hiding in shrubbery
Photographs have been selected to show examples of things that make me happy. I don’t have a picture of ice cream.