December 6th

Can I interest you in a pot of crazy blooming orchids from the sheep shed? Way better than the dark landscape on this cold December morning.

I'd purchased the orchid plants many, many years ago. When Ed and I first began to spend our days together. There was an orchid shop on the way to the place where his machines were sold and on the occasions when I would tag along to see some aspect of his machine world, I'd coax him into stopping, just to look... 

Three of those original purchases are still with us and I dutifully put them outside each spring and haul them in for the winter, which is the thing you need to do to ensure a bloom. They keep outgrowing their pots and they should be split up to make smaller plants. In their current state, they could not possibly overwinter in the farmhouse -- they'd block the light from the windows. So they stay at the sheep shed, happy as can be. I visit them each morning when I feed five out of the seven cats who eat here. (The remaining two cats are difficult and require special handling elsewhere.) Beautiful flowers that last and last...

Breakfast is of course at the farmhouse. 

And what do we do during this meal? We talk about dinner. With good reason! A few weeks ago, Ed had come across a review of a recently opened restaurant. Everyone loves the place. It's impossible to get a reservation! Insofar as the two of us eat out, we typically either go to Sardine -- a beloved restaurant on the shores of Lake Monona, or we head out to the Monroe Street neighborhood for more homey choices. This new restaurant (Lallande) is on Monroe and I suppose this was a strike in its favor because both of us were enthusiastic to try it. A rare confluence of curiosity and desires for him, for me.  We booked a table for tonight.

In the meantime, we are in for a small warmup. Probably the last one for a while. This is good news as we've grown terribly slack in our movements. We're planning to make up for it! Tomorrow! 

In other holiday news, I'm tracking the celebrations of those across the ocean right now because today is St. Nicholas Day and in Poland at least, kids do get presents on this day. A double whammy! Christmas and St Nick's (called "Mikolajki" in Polish)! The trick is, I think to be thoughtful but to aim small. In the same way that my grandkids love the simple Advent calendars with only a picture behind the numbered tab, so, too, a sweet treat, a small stuffy, a wee something would do for these gift giving occasions. I say this even as I am wrapping rather large boxes for the kids' Christmas. Not my fault! The youngest guy likes big trucks! Next year, I'm sticking with small.

I think about all this as I start in on wrapping the adult presents (kids all done!).

Music in the background, fake candle "burning." Same songs, same routines. Only the paper changes. Some of us love the repetition of tasks this season. The tweaking, maybe improving on some, maybe simplifying others. But of course, some people do have an aversion to it. The oft repeated "too commercial" (as if our lives weren't otherwise beholden to the demand that we spend and consume, or else!), not Christian enough! Too Christian! Too conformist, too demanding, too expensive, too much forced joy. By the time you're 70, you've heard it all. You put it aside. Let others stay away if they choose. To me, December shines because of these repeated tasks that bring us closer to people we love. You dont need holidays to feel happy, but in those days when there is such a push to celebrate, if you can find some space for yourself, something to love -- foods, gifts, trees, music, gatherings, candles (!) -- you have so many choices! -- the month suddenly zips by like a bobsled on track to win a race, carrying you along with the magic of warmth and color on the darkest month of the year.

In the afternoon I pick up the kids. 

Sparrow gets lost in trying to figure out why you can't count the school days left before Christmas through counting by fives. The guy is obsessed with numbers. When told he has five minutes left to do something, he'll dance around counting very loudly to sixty, five times. Patterns, sequences -- they're his thing, in the same way that Snowdrop finds magic in words. Numbers to her are tools to solve perplexing puzzles. She likes math -- if it's not "boring" repetition. Sparrow doesn't care -- it all delights him (at least at this moment in time!).

(They're both good at arm-twisting. We go to Tati's for ice cream...)

In the evening, I pack them into the car, call Ed over and we head out, first to drop off the kids, then for our big eat out at Lallande.

Did we love it? Sure, though Ed wont ever totally commit to a place that has a limited menu. Since he ignores meat dishes and rarely picks fish, and finds most veggie plates too fussy, the options are always limited for him. He was satisfied enough with his escargot...

... and Croque Forrestiere. Me, I stayed with the monkfish stew. Delicious, though I'm glad the chef will be spending a week in Marseille this January. That city is a total eye opener in terms of what can happen when you want to put together a fabulous bouillabaisse (aka fish stew).

We drive home. It's so lovely to see colorful lights in people's yards. Someone went to the trouble (and it is trouble!) of putting them up, just for the uplift that they bring to the household, to you and me. And isn't that a lovely thing...