Is there any Christmas celebrant out there who does not feel they have to vacuum the day after the holiday? What, you? Well then your tree was trimmed too late (or else it would be nearly dry by now), or you didn't bake enough cookies and then were too strict about eating them only at the kitchen table.
So the farmhouse needs a good power sweep, which arguably is Ed's one cleaning job here (I'll take a medium good job over having to do it myself), but today, at noon, I threw him out of the house and picked up the vacuum myself. Here's why:
The day started off beautifully.
We continued Christmas with a video visit with my daughter, her husband, Juniper and Primrose.
Everyone was in good spirits. Shockingly, even Ed, despite the fact that it was a very holiday-themed visit (he prefers to keep things low key). We wished each other happy days ahead and then I fixed breakfast.
And things began to unravel for him then. He began to fret about an unresolved issue that had necessitated legal advice. He doesn't stew over stuff often, but today he stewed. (Ed has been knocked about too many times by the omissions and stumbles of trades people and professionals -- anyone from a roofer to a builder, or a plumber, or an accountant, or most recently -- an internet repair person. He's paid through the roof -- forgive the pun -- for their errors.) He asked my advice on some documents. I offered a bit of reassurance, but honestly, I'm not an expert in that branch of the law. He continued to fret. He called, he emailed, but everyone is hiding behind the holiday banner and so he got basically nowhere at all and this is when I threw him out to go to a place he really wanted to go to all along -- the Brooklyn Wildlife Preserve, where volunteers were sowing seeds on the prairie as a special Boxing Day event.
I passed on tagging along: someone does have to vacuum, and do the laundry, and mend rips, and put away the dishes. Besides, I have before me a golden opportunity to clean out and rearrange my baking pantry, inspired by my daughter's -- probably both daughters' -- attention to order and neatness on their supply shelves. I have taken to guessing rather than checking what's behind the big sacks of flour, leading me to over-purchase such items as medium grade cornmeal and under-purchase baking necessities such as plain old sugar.
By noon he was out and I said what the heck, and clicked on my Christmas playlist, even though in all my years, I have never played Christmas music on the day after.
In the evening, the young family comes for Sunday dinner.
They are my walk in the Wildlife Area, not at all because they are wild, but because the kids bring with them that gust of fresh air and clear vision and having them here offers the best distraction from news headlines, Ed frets, and just about anything else that might otherwise dampen and sag the spirit.
Dinner...
Followed by one more cleanup and then quiet. With a glass of wine (La Petite Soeur) for me and a bowl of popcorn to share. We're celebrating a productive day that starts well and ends well. What more could you possibly want in life!
