On This Day – Some Mothers did ‘ave them.

According to Wikipedia,

The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martii or Idus Martiae) is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances, and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.^[1]

According to Danish history (our personal one, that is), also on 15th March almost 2,000 years later, Kanute Larsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His birth was equally transitional and impactful – to his mother, anyway! The world as a whole, seemed unimpressed. I can’t vouch for this personally – sadly, I was not even a twinkle in my father’s eye on the other side of the world at that time.

I became his wife many years ago, and I’m not entirely sure I followed ALL the advice I could/should have. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote on Ezine Articles some time ago on this subject –

 A ‘weighty’ book by Dr. J. H. Kellogg MD, titled ‘Ladies Guide in Health and Disease’ includes all the information the young lady seeking love and marriage, needs to know. (Well, it all made good sense in 1893, when it was written). And yes – it is the very same Kellogg who invented and produced whole grain breakfast cereals that would evolve into the famous and much-loved Kellogg’s Cornflakes. Additionally, he also patented a process for making peanut butter and invented healthful, Granose biscuits (maybe a precursor of ‘Granita biscuits’?)

First and foremost – be Clear in Purpose – and Pure in Mind.

Young ladies must understand that preservation of the species is the only object for the institution of marriage. And most certainly not to simply gratify the ‘animal’ passions. A young woman with genuine instincts would be attracted to marriage for far superior and more modest motives than just sexual privileges.

Dr. Kellogg tells of countless women who suffered serious distress and illness caused by the excesses of the early weeks of marriage! He further recommends that these violent passions should be kept under control, insisting that – ‘unbridled lust is a sin under all circumstances’, and that Nature’s ‘animal instincts’ were never intended to become dominant over the dignified purpose that marriage was exclusively designed for – namely procreation and continuation of the species.

If you want to see a few of the good Doctor’s cheerful pics (including one of his strictly sensible self), you can visit Selecting a Husband – 1890’s Style

But back to the husband I did select… well his theme song for the day would probably closely mimic Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’. That’s the way Kanute has moved through this life for over 7 decades now, and showing only a few signs of slowing down somewhat. The old aches and pains come to cause lesser days now and then, but overall, he always answers queries about his health and well-being with a cheerful (if sometimes rueful) “Not too bad for an old bloke!”.

We will be making and enjoying some of his best loved Danish dishes here at home like this one – his all-time favourite, DanishTatar –

and will raise the odd glass of Snaps – a Danish Delight that is kept in the freezer because that’s the way it’s served – in tiny liqueur glasses. It’s such high alcohol (45%) that it cannot freeze. Absolutely perfect with one of the Danish dishes we plan to enjoy. We will say ‘Skaal’ to each other as we raise our glasses (means ‘Cheers’ in Denmark – not to be confused with the ‘Scull’ we say in Oz, which means drink the glass to the bottom – guess who did that at her first Danish party?)

The other thing that Snaps is absolutely wonderful for is avoiding a trip to the dentist! Truly! You get a toothache and you just hold a mouthful of Snaps on that side of your mouth, (inside of course) and that entire side of your face goes numb, for all the world as if it had disappeared. Makes your eyes water a bit, though. But seriously, you can say – ‘Toothache? What toothache?” – and Life just continues to get more cheerful by the moment.

Now you get to understand why I married a Dane – 49 years ago this year! Of course we both get comments like – “You get less for murder” and gasps of disbelief and wonder, and I usually say – “Better the devil you know” etc. Yesterday a friend suggested another response – “After you’ve enjoyed perfection, how could you settle for less?” Of course this had to be a man… right? Can’t stop chuckling.

Happy birthday Kanute – hope you enjoy my presents and presence as much as always,

Christine