December
Rolling all my holiday updates into one.
Halloween seems a long time ago, but it’s the start of the holiday season and the period between Halloween and New Year’s always seems like one long rush into winter and the new year.
Our neighbors advised us to expect Trick-or-Treaters so, given the ongoing COVID problems, Maya stretched a “spider web” across the driveway so she could hand out candy through the web, thereby accomplishing “social distancing”. At least we were outside. The weather, fortunatley, was comfortably warm.
It took about five minutes for one of our local bats to fly right into the web. He escaped easily and flew off down the street. It was a great Halloween moment, really. Well, maybe not for him. As it got dark, I set up a light to enhance the, er, mood.
There was a slow but steady string of kids out with their parents, and I was happy to see their parents dressed up as well. We met a few of our neighbors, which was really nice. I learned that the son of the lady next door lives across the street from her with his wife and child.
For Thanksgiving, since our families are all back East, we did a Friendsgiving with a couple families up near Portland. They all have kids who enjoy seeing each other, so they mostly stayed downstairs playing games. This allowed the parents some space for grown up conversation which led to a lot of kid-inappropriate laughter.. Good company, lots of delicious homemade food, four different pies, all made for a relaxing, happy day.
And now it’s almost Christmas. We went a little crazy on the exterior lights and put our tree. I was chided, at Thanksgiving, for having a plastic tree here in Oregon where the evergreens outnumber the people. I replied that I support the trees in their agitation for sufferage and do not cut them down against the say when they gain the vote. My plastic tree with built-in fiber optics is traditional, dammit, and much more so than a “live” tree since it’s the same every year.
In addition, Maya needed surgery this month so on the twenty-first she entered the hospital for an out-patient procedure which went perfectly. The nervous energy she felt in the days before led to a lot of holiday baking, so we are fairly drowning in cookies, and other treats. We prepared for a longer recovery that needed, so we have lots of easy comfort food to get us through the rest of the month.
And no, it’s not all cookies. (ahem)
So as the year winds down, please accept heartfelt thanks from both of us for your friendship throughout this tumultuous year. It’s been rough, and I never would have made it alone.