Happiness is...

...elderflower cordial. I got addicted to the stuff in Denmark, making it with boiling water and drinking it hot like tea. And after three years without, I have finally found somewhere that stocks it here. (The same brand, even!)

I just poured myself a cup of it and when I smelt the honey-like, vaguely floral steam, I was suddenly back in our little flat in Aarhus, seeing the pale wooden floors and smelling the white powdered soap we had to use to clean them. In my memory the late night summer sunlight is filtering through the lace curtain in the kitchen. I can see the bright blue door and behind it the dark cave of a stairwell (one person wide and half a person tall) leading to the bathroom in the basement that we shared with three other families.* The handkerchief-sized garden where the old lady from upstairs would sunbathe naked.* The duck pond that was frozen over for more than half the year...

Sigh. Who knew that a hot drink could have such an effect? Now I'm all happy and sad at the same time.

______

* This is common in Denmark, especially in older buildings. Fortunately we only had one flight of stairs to creep down in the mornings; the family worst off had three.

* Also common in Denmark. A little startling when it's the first sight to greet you on drawing back the curtains first thing in the morning, though.