It's definitely the last hurrah, trumpeting the end of a glorious two weeks of birthdays, holidays, getaways. New Year's Eve: morning with one young family, in Sister Bay, evening with the other, at the farmhouse and with Ed. New Year's Eve -- Snowdrop claims it's her favorite holiday. Why, I would ask. She likes staying up that much? Possibly triumphantly lasting the evening even as her brothers doze off, and maybe even her parents doze off. And this morning, I hear Primrose cajoling her mom and dad -- can't we stay up and watch the cherry drop? Please? Being just four years old, I don't think there is much hope that she'll get her parents to go along.
Why do kids love to stay up past their bedtime??
Breakfast: I pick up coffees for us older guys at the reliably open, even on this early winter morning, Skip Stone --
... and bring them to the little apartment where the young family is staying. (They'll be here an extra night. I'm cutting out because, well, there's Ed...) Cherry and blueberry scones are baking in the oven. We have quite the fine morning meal together.
(is it time for breakfast?)
A quick game of Guess Who with Primrose, a short play moment with Juniper...
... and I am off. See you next year, my sweet ones!
I take the longer road, past the villages of Door County that are so well populated in the summer, but so full of serenity right now.
Ephriam, looking out over the bay...
Fish Creek, looking in from the docks...
And the somewhat different Egg Harbor. It's my least favorite because the shore line is dotted with private homes. You have to drive along a narrow road quite a ways before you can look out at Green Bay.
I pass through cedar forests and cherry groves...
And then I'm over the bridge that separates the pinkie from the rest of the state...
... with my nose pointed to home. And I have to admit it -- I listen to my Christmas playlist the whole 3.5 hour long drive. It just brings up in my mind the last two weeks and the images are so sweet, so darn precious, that I don't notice the time at all. It feels like I'm home in a flash.
I do a quick clean up (Ed, alone, for three days = clean up needed), make myself a strong cup of coffee, slice off a piece of the delicious maple cinnamon raisin sourdough I bought yesterday at the Waseda farm...
... and then I turn my attention toward cooking a New Year's Eve meal for the young family here. This is when I do a seafood pasta with a white wine sauce. The seafoods are special (shrimp, scallops, a few small lobster tails), the presentation, too, is important.
They come with hats and horns!
And now we are almost back to our routines, except that this is the one day of the year where I do pop a champagne cork (at other times I stick with Prosecco).
(We get a call from the owners of the wandering black cat. Ed locates them on a map. Snowdrop helps.)
Dinner:
("take another one of me!")
Dessert.
And then they leave to finish New Year's Eve at home, possibly with a sleeping everyone except for Snowdrop. Here, at the farmhouse, Ed and I do what we do every day -- watch a movie, nibble on popcorn, eat a chocolate or two. Do we stay up til midnight? That's an unknown! I'll post this before the clock strikes the hour. Wishing you lots of upbeat moments and happy days with those closest to you in the New Year!
And so much love...
