A TRIP NOT TO THE PARK - SNOW, SNOW, SNOW

 Well, as of now all of the Christmas decorations are not only down- but stored away.  

We were lucky and the snow storm which was to come through on Tuesday (yesterday) was just rain which ended in the early morning – and the temperature went up into the 50Fs!  What a pleasant day!

Husband was upset, as usual, about the storm due to come in tomorrow (Thursday) – very upset.  I looked out and the saw the sun, felt the (relative) warmth and suggested to cheer him up - “Let's go walk around in the park.”  He was concerned that the snow from prior storms might not have been cleared or that the park might be soaked and did not want to go.  I suggested as an alternative we take a drive.  He thought about and agreed.  We got our “going out bag” - holds masks, bag for mask, hand sanitizer, plastic gloves, plastic sandwich bags (as alternative to gloves for me), and spray bottle of alcohol and started out.  

We drove to a different, nearer park and all looked well cleared.  BUT whenever we had to stop – at red light or otherwise – the car was surging – he would need to shift the automatic transmission into neutral to stop it.  So home we went – now very upset, so much for a nice day out.  This is apparently the sort of problem which is either a US$200 repair for a switch or thousands for a new transmission.

We have a driveway which is shaped like an “h”.  We keep the car at the foot of the long side of the “h”  (RV at top part) and our van on the grass, well really dirt, all the grass died, between the bottom legs of the “h”.  All extremely organized, this way either car or van can be driven out – if the van is being driven before we go out the car is put on the curve of the “h” so we can the van back in place.  He was concerned that if the car did not drive next time, we would be stuck and not able to get the van back in place – so we decided to switch the two on the driveway.  First he paced out that the wheels of the car would be on the bricks that the van's wheels are on – yes, they matched okay.  Then he drove the van off the driveway and parked in the street in front of a neighbor.  Then he had me get in the car to drive it so he could direct me.  I am actually the better driver – no, really, he would say so even more than I do, but I have not really driven the car since the first Wednesday of last March.  I have driven a couple/few times to or from our mechanic who is 4 blocks away, when we have needed to take one of our vehicles to him and it was too cold or wet to walk home (if going there or walk there if picking up), but that's it.  I did fairly well with the driving, but did not end up on the bricks.  We did not figure into this that the ground had melted after being frozen and wall sheer mud.  In going back and forth to get the tires on the bricks – I was getting stuck in the mud and the tires were throwing mud up.  When husband asked me to open the passenger door so he could talk to me – well, I had forgotten how to do so!!  I did open that window and by the time he asked again, I had found the button on the dashboard (I could have sworn it was the door near the armrest – that must have been our last car).  He had to shovel the mud around so that there were not deep cuts in it when it freezes back.  He then had to go and drive the van onto our driveway – which involved driving it to the next street and back.  We will take the car in for it to be looked at next week – after the ground freezes again!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Apparently we are in time where anything that can go wrong - will do so.  Try to figure out what can happen and what you can do if does.  Hopefully your problems, like ours, while perhaps terribly annoying (and possibly expensive) will not of the type which threatens health or life or financial security.  We have to learn to “roll with it” as much as we can.  

I hope all and theirs are stay well and survive this winter weather – especially those in areas such as Texas which are not used to winters like this.

WHEN IT IS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO CHRISTMAS?

 Today is January 6 – the last day of Christmas.

No, really, today is the last of the twelve days of Christmas – the day the three kings arrived to see the Baby Jesus.  In earlier centuries Christmas started on Christmas day and ended today – not as today, where Christmas starts at Thanksgiving (a totally unrelated holiday) or earlier in the year and ends on Christmas Day.  I have mentioned that husband and I are 18th century reenactors.  In normal years our unit participates in a Candlelight Nights event at the local restoration village (forgive me if I am repeating myself).  We explain to the public which comes through that Christmas was celebrated for the  entire 12 days – which by the way, does NOT include Christmas Day – which was religious/church day.  Starting December 26 (still called Boxing Day in many countries), which was the first day of Christmas there would be parties every evening.  Family and friends would come to visit (and as I explain to children – family might come from far away and therefore might not come to visit for the day or the week, but for weeks or a month) - it was a common time for weddings as a result.  Each night we are at the event after Christmas Day we mention what night it is – as in “Oh, you are here for the family's first night (second night, third night…) party.  Think of it 12 days of parties and fun for Christmas.  

One advantage to there being 12 specific days of Christmas with a definite day – today – to end the holiday is that one knew when the holiday was over.  I hate it when people run to take down their Christmas Decorations or toss their tree out the day after Christmas.  

I sort of mix it all together.  Today we used/are using our Christmas dishes (inexpensive Corelle) for the last time for a year.  I have put the Christmas dishes we did not use today (and will not use for late night snack tonight) on the table runner on our dining room table.  The dinner dishes are washed.  When I take out them out of the drying rack, they will join the others on the dining room table.  Tomorrow I will add the dishes we use for late snack -which will be washed and left to air dry before we go to bed tonight, box them up, and store them in the basement closet until next year.  The same with our Christmas glasses.  

But as good as I am about the dishes – I hate to take down the decorations.  The outdoor lights will have the timer in our basement which controls them shut off.  The wreath on the door will have it's timer shut off also (it runs on batteries).  I will leave the window candles (also battery and timer) up a little longer.  But the outside decorations – lights, flag on holder and decorations on our solar lamps' holders – will remain up until the weather is warm enough to take them down comfortably or the weather coming is bad enough that we better get them down – freezing weather or not.  

But in the house – generally the decorations – including the trees – will stay up a bit longer (no one sees inside the house to see that they are still up).  Several years ago we realized that we needed a definite point in time to take down the inside the house decorations.  When January started it was too soon. By the last week in January I was walking around thinking - “oh no, I guess I should start taking it all down soon, but who wants to now that the holiday is over”.  I figured out a definite point to signal to start taking them down – Martin Luther King Jr's birthday.  (For those not in the U.S. this holiday is on the 3rd Monday in January and honors the Reverend King.)  The holiday is of no significance to taking down the decorations – other than it is a set point to do so – well, at least to start doing so.  

Our dining room is already back to normal other than the decorations.  The board I added to the table is back in the board holder in the back of our front closet.  The tablecloths and napkins long washed and put away.  The foam table protector is also long rolled up and stored in the front closet.  The good china and silver tableware was put away after New Year's Day.   (This is not the same as my Christmas dishes.)

The rest of the decorations inside may stay out a bit longer this year – basically it a bit of “we need a little Christmas” so I will not rush to pack them all away.  Something to cheer the house while staying in to avoid the corona virus is needed, so it may stay a little longer.  My infamous teddy bear village stopped having a “Christmas Festival” some years ago – as the same setup called a “Winter Festival” can stay out longer- until February when, of course, the “Valentine Festival” happens.  

When we take down the decorations – outside and inside – I will note anything which needs to be replaced next year and list it in the shopping list in my cell phone under “Xmas” so we remember to buy what is needed and have it when we need it next year.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

When there is a task to do which does not have a specific time it needs to be done or completed by – set a fixed time it needs to be done for yourself.  If it is an annual task – use the same fixed time point each year.  

I hope all have a good new year and stay well and safe.

DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS - MISSING HOOKS?

 This past week, I have been dealing with the inside the house Christmas decorations.  Just to refresh your memories – last year time got away from me and 3 days before Christmas I told my husband that we were not going to have our decorations up – particularly not our Christmas trees.  He was actually glad to hear me say this as he had realized it the week before and was afraid to mention it – if he had I would have been bound and determined to get it all set up.  I ended up taking out the small tabletop tree we set normally setup in our studio and decorate with some of the ornaments we have made over the decades, and setting it up on husband's weaving work table which is in our dining room.  I store our ornaments in 4 boxes starting with the nicest ones and ending with the fill in ones.  I pulled about 25 ornaments out of the nicest ones (and had the most sentimental value) and used them on the tree.   Nothing was cleared out of the room from his weaving – basically the loom room never became the living room and the little tree sat in the midst of the weaving.  In the days after Christmas I did take out some of my small stuffed Christmas/Chanukah animals and put them on the sofa and my Christmas teddy bear village was setup after Christmas (I don't think it has ever gone up before Christmas Eve) but that was it.  My husband reassured that “next year” we would get everything setup again.

Well it is next year.  Since we are stuck in the house due to the corona virus we really want to decorate and take our minds off of it and other miseries of this year.  I put out a good deal of the small decorations and then started on the trees over the weekend.   It was all going well.  I have to set up all 3 trees at the same time as the ornaments we have made are shared between the two and ornaments we have received from our membership in Colonial Williamsburg are split between the main tree and one in our dining room.  Both the studio tree and the dining room tree are due to having too many of the same type of ornaments on the main tree – and this being a way to have all of the ornaments out while not overwhelming the tree with them.  (My teddy bear village was started in much same the way – I set up a small tree with some of the teddy bear ornaments from the main tree and the village grew from that.  

I was putting ornaments on the main tree – running into the studio to put some there – and doing well.  My husband had been helping me, but had to go to work on the computer.  I suddenly realized that I was almost out of hooks.  I should have some in the first box and some in one of the later boxes – and I had not found the second bag of them.  As I was about to start the fill in layers – glass balls in various colors that I stick behind the main ornaments wherever there is an empty spot and then some small ornaments and icicles I put over the ornament also to fill in – and I had no more hooks – I also had never found any of the longer hooks and had 3 nice ornaments sitting there waiting for the longer hooks.   I have now being looking for two days for the missing ornament hooks.  Today I went through the boxes of ornaments for the teddy village looking for the hooks for same – figuring that perhaps somehow I stored the hooks together last year since the main tree had not been set up.  NONE there either!  

Not being able to finish the main tree makes me sad enough, but not being able to decorate the teddy village tree – well, is heart breaking.  In addition to not going out shopping this year due to the pandemic, I use soft hooks that are not sold around here – I buy them when we go to Pennsylvania on trips, so it is not a case of run out and buy some more.  I guess I will end up using paper clips to hang ornaments – but the reason I like the soft ones I they can be made shorted and longer as needed as they bend easier and then can go back to how they were.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

I again wish all a happy holiday of the season – whether yours is Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanza or my teddy bears holiday of the winter solstice.
Let us all work hard to stay well so that, hopefully long before, this time next year life will be back to normal and we can worry about the normal petty problems of the holidays instead of trying to make sure we survive Covid-19.  Let is be in our rear window long before then.

COVID 19 #26 - PLAN NOW FOR THANKSGIVING APART FOR THIS YEAR

 Well, Thanksgiving is coming (in the U.S.A.) in 2 weeks.   Yes, family is important, but family staying well and alive is more important.  Please don't have (or go to) a big family gathering this year.  Have a dinner with those in your household.  

How about a long distance (or short distance if family lives nearby) extended family celebration on Zoom– perhaps even set up a monitor (yes, this would be exception to the “no TV, no computers,no phones at Thanksgiving dinner rule)  where everyone having dinner at your house can see the screen and have your extended family members do the same.  Make an agreement for what time to have dinner which works for everyone – then all can share dinner across the Internet and still be safe.  

Have Aunt Mary send a copy of her secret recipe for her pumpkin pie (will you find out that she uses the one on the can of canned pumpkin?).  Have Cousin Susie her recipe for the stuffing and so on.  Everyone can make the dishes for their family (or not as they choose – perhaps Uncle Dave adds a bit too much “fun” in his rum cake?).  If everyone has the same foods it will seem like everyone is eating together.  Or, just let everyone make the dinner they want – perhaps next year your sister-in-law's vegetable soup (a dish I always make for Thanksgiving) will be the new family favorite that no one has had before, but when she made it for the dinner she and your brother had with their children – it looked soooo good and her children asked for more – yes, more vegetables  - and then you will all asking her for the recipe.  

The holiday is something which can be celebrated across the miles -  or across the street – so that all stay safe and well.  I am sure that you all would prefer for grandpa Jack to be with you at future Thanksgiving dinners than this be his last one due to his catching Covid-19 from someone at the dinner.  

My husband and I used to have both families at our home for Thanksgiving dinner – it was “our” holiday.  10 years ago we had bed bugs – we have not have family join us for the holiday since.  I still cook the same foods for the two of us – just a bit less than I made for the families.  I set up the dining room with the “good” china and silverware.  I use smaller serving bowls than before, but we have a nice holiday.  We do this annually now – and I only suggesting your family and friends have this one Thanksgiving apart – so that hopefully you will all be alive and well for next Thanksgiving to be together again.  

I am writing this column now – 2 weeks before the holiday so that you have time to plan with your extended family to have your holiday apart, while still joining together in some way over the distance so all will survive the corona virus and are here to be there for next year.  

Me, I have to figure out what to do with the all the extra canned goods, bottle, jars, and packages which are currently residing on my dining room table – taking up the entire table plus there are 3 huge plastic boxes of foods,which might attract vermin if it was just out, stacked next to the table.   I figure I have to clear up my studio worktable and move the food from the dining room table onto it.  (This will also allow me to decorate the dining room for Christmas afterward which I never had a chance to do last year.)  Husband has said to have the dinner in the kitchen,but I know from the past we need the kitchen table for related things – such as carving the turkey.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

For the Jewish holiday of Passover one of the prayers is “Next year, may we all be in Jerusalem” - for Thanksgiving let us all stay apart and safe and say “Next next Thanksgiving may we all be at Aunt Anne's” (or wherever you normally celebrate Thanksgiving) and survive this pandemic to do so.  

A little planning is all that is needed.

Let us also remember on this Veteran's Day all of those brave people who have fought to protect their country in the various wars which threatened our country as well as, including those in other countries who share the memory of Armistice Day when World War I (the Great War) had it truce.  If not for them we would not be living in the world we have now (meaning of course the good things of our world.)  Tell a veteran (or two) that you appreciate their service.