Then one foggy post-Christmas morning...
Santa packed up and began his journey back north I guess. I hope the great great grandchild of Rudolph has the same genes that would give him a red nose -- a much needed navigational tool for this day. [Science has taught us a great deal since the first stories of Santa and Rudolph appeared back in 1939. (Rudolph was a promotional gimmick put out by Montgomery Ward that year.) We do know that reindeer live about 20 years, so the current Rudolph would have to be many generations removed from the original one, but the red nose, like red hair, could still be handed down to the current generation of flying beasts!]
Okay, I have a lot to do this morning. More boxes, more recyclables, more dishes, more tidying. Are you excited yet??
And breakfast. Late. With Ed. And with Dance. The cat is the more photogenic of the two.
There's tidying and putting away of course, but there's also food prep and table setting. And present arranging once again, for one last time.
And late this afternoon, the Chicago young family is here for Christmas, even if it is the 26th. People grumble about delayed holidays but I dont mind. Let me rephrase that: I actually prefer it. Everything is spread out over several days which makes for less chaos and creates more pleasure. It doesn't cram every sweet moment into the waking hours of just one day.
We do it this way: the younger family arrives, I concentrate on gifts and playtime with just them. In a couple of hours, the local young family will join us for dinner.
(Juniper wait for a few minutes. Juniper -- but why??)
Okay, girls, you can go for it.
Primrose asked for one of those Polaroid -type cameras, with instantly viewable photos. It brought back memories to when I was just a wee bit older than her. I desperately wanted a Polaroid camera and when I turned thirteen the company came out with a more affordable version which they targeted to young people (like me!). I even remember the jingle for it -- Meet the Swinger, Polaroid Swinger, it's more than a camera, it's almost alive, it's only nineteen dollars and ninety-five! But I didn't get it. I knew we were returning to Poland within a few months and there would be no Polaroid film there for it. Fast forward to 58 years later and here's my granddaughter delighting in this rather remarkable technology...
It's nearly time for all of us to eat dinner. But in the end, it cannot be thus. One family member from the local bunch is not feeling well. Not Covid, but nonetheless, there are markers of a bug. We confer and go with the wise choice -- let them stay home tonight and we'll see where tomorrow will lead us. Cross finger that this will pass quickly and we can gather as planned -- as an 11-some.
I quickly reconfigure things, taking out the five settings for the now absent guests. The table looks huge with its extra leaf, but I keep it in anyway, as (I'm hopin') we'll be gathering for another meal here come Saturday.
.(she's trying my fried sage leaves)
Presents, play, dinner. Fish with a horseradish sauce on the side, asparagus, pasta, salad. Batch cookies for dessert. Easy prep, delicious stuff, though of course, we have a lot of leftovers, given the smaller crowd!
Still, there are things to be grateful for here: we could have had the issue of someone being sick at the day of the holiday itself. Too, I have my older daughter's family here for dinner weekly. It is sweetly special to concentrate on the younger daughter and her gang -- all of whom live farther away.
We have a weekend of activities before us, but tonight, we all retire early. Everyone has been through a tremendous amount of excitement. Sweet treats have been flowing, the sound of ripping paper is still reverberating in my head, discarded present ribbon will be found in hidden corners of the farmhouse long past this day.
It's been one fabulous Christmas!
And yes, I can still do it: cook three family dinners in a row! Pick up the youngest one with one arm! (Though not for long...)
In the empty now farmhouse, I was going to charge Ed with finding yet another movie for our holiday viewing season. (I was one of the suckers who believed Die Hard really was a Christmas movie! I'm being more careful now in my reading of trailers!) Feet up, goofy smile on my face, exhale... Ed, movie time! Ed? Ed!
He is fast asleep.
Merry merry December days to you all!
with love...
