Christmas Eve

And here we are, the day of great importance to so many for so many reasons! For me it's very simple: it's a day, a time of year really, that celebrates human connection, nature's abundance, our ability to create beauty out of anything at all -- it's all front and center, where joy isn't just wallpaper in a drab house. Peace, love, reaching out beyond your own small world of concerns and grumblings. And on this Eve, you stand ready to engage, to give, or maybe just to soak in all that is good in the world around us. People go to church for this. As you know, I am not a church person. But I share a love of this holiday exactly because it celebrates such core elements in life -- the indisputably most important elements of our existence. 

So, yeah... Christmas Eve day. Beautiful, by definition.

It's cold again, which means that the melting snow of yesterday, froze into a nice ice pack today. Walking is treacherous! But the chickens have freed themselves from the barn. They want to roam!

I drive to Batch Bakery. I need loaves of baguettes. Again, I did not reserve any and I almost paid a hefty price for this essential component to several meals this week. But, I was in line early and nabbed the last four. Yes, they're baking all morning long, but had I come later, I would have had to wait a very long time for my share. 

While there, I picked up some croissants and cookies and admired a whole lot more.

I asked my sales clerk how long she'd been working today. Since 3! -- she said, eyes glazed over. Well yes, that is a baker's life. I did that on Saturdays for several years, a while back. Rolling croissants and baking gougeres. It's one thing to do it on Saturdays only, and it's another to bake like that every day of the week. And still, the atmosphere in the bakery is festive today. People are looking forward. At the very least, to wonderfully aromatic freshly baked stuff on the table. It's enough to make my heart dance!

At home, Ed and I sit down together...

... then he goes off to give blood, while I finish wrapping. (Well, almost finish.) Ed especially loves giving blood on Christmas Eve because they give out free t-shirts. Long sleeved ones that make him happy. 

By 2 o'clock, I have to leave. Where to? Well, I'm actually joining the young family for their Christmas service at St. Dunstan's Episcopal. Services haven't the meaning for me that they do for them, nonetheless, the kids are in the Christmas Pageant and I hear Sandpiper is very excited to debut in the performance as... wind. He gets to move around a lot. Sparrow is a little disappointed that his role -- snow! -- has no speaking part. Snowdrop is assigned the part of a muskrat, which in this iteration of the Pageant, apparently has a lot to say in the matter of... well, you know, the tough life of a muskrat in December.

(I tried hard to get a good picture of Snow and Wind, but Wind especially flew by me so fast, that it was always just a blur.)

In this very child-friendly service, there was a lot of discussion of the needs of animals living in the wild. Trays of nourishing foods were assembled. 

 

The music was of course very familiar and beautiful and everyone loved having a lit candle...

Okay, time to go home.

I cook Christmas Eve dinner, but I do it at their house, which brings with it its own set of challenges. Where might you have a medium sized pot and a wooden spoon? 

 (Sandpiper helps dish out the salads.)

  

Over the years, I really strayed from the Polish rock solid tradition of herring and borscht with uszka (meat tortellini) for the Eve meal. I made it easy on myself by doing a beef fondue, where all I had to do was cut up meat and make a salad and sauces. The young family has stuck with this menu and each year I go over there and we dip meat in bubbling broth. However, in deference to the pescatarian in our group, I add some salmon chunks this year, and in addition, I prepare a second pot of cheeses (gruyere and swiss)  for dipping bread. 

 

(With crackers to pop and crowns...)

They get ready for the big day then. I return home. 

At my age, you often like to roll back into your memories of past holidays -- their delights and yes, sometimes disappointments. All the riches of a long life! You remember the year you were charged with bringing home a tree (because no one else felt like doing it, and because there weren't stores nearby selling them). And the year you'd rummaged in your mom's closet to find Santa's gifts. (Mary Poppins album; not the original soundtrack, unfortunately!) The year you were stuck overseas because of snowstorms and almost didn't make it back home in time. A million vignettes like that, all leading to one big smile. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, rejoice with the passing of solstice... May your days be full of love...