Merry Christmas!
Posted by Richard Cooper in Yellow Paper on 24 December, 2012 - 07:53
Christmas greetings to everyone. This time of year for me brings to mind Dieter Scharf from The Bat Tattoo (chapter 18):
As soon as I opened the basement door I got a whiff of the Dieter Scharf workshop smell: electrical wiring, oiled metal, solder, and cheap cigars. It wasn't quite the same as my father's workshop but it was close enough to make me feel cosy and comfortable. There in the darkness was the bright jumbly island of his work-bench under the green-metal-shaded bulb; and there was Dieter wreathed in vile blue smoke with his invisible charcoal-burner's hut around him and a goblin-haunted forest in the shadows. ... "Do you do anything for Christmas?" [I asked him]. "I drink very much and read Morgenstern until it's all over. ... This Schnaps is Morgenstern. Clears the brain. Prosit!" "Here's looking at you, kid," I responded. We both sipped delicately but greedily. The Schnaps was chilled and it went down like bright and sparkling winters and left me with a cosy fire inside at which to warm myself.
Have a good one!