So it is finally over. Perhaps one of the weirdest holidays in memory. It is usually stressful enough but this year the merry in Merry Christmas was somewhat half-hearted. The familiar issues of vaccinated versus anti-vaxxers, disrupted travel plans, airline cancellations, supply chain issues, exhausted health caregivers and teachers, and the build up of 2 years of ongoing COVID anxiety leads me to think that to most, 2022 can’t come soon enough.
Anderson and Andy tried to make New Year’s Eve seem normal. Singers I never heard of rapped and danced their way way on stages across the country. And the rest of us played homage to our traditions minus the crowds of people of yesteryear, i.e. pre-COVID.
But hey, it was almost 70 degrees the other day. Oh no, does that mean summer will be unbearable? But, I spoke too soon. Looking out the window at the snow today, maybe I should start to keep all seasons’ clothing handy.
We did all the traditional family things.
Amazon made many trips to our house. Shopping will never be the same.
My Christmas card writing days are over, but I still can’t get into internet greeting cards. Perhaps this letter will do even though it is going out as an email blast.
Worry not. I won’t be sharing my travel stories (we didn’t travel) or household disasters (although the dead freezer containing shelves of melted food and the hassle of buying one with issues from Home Depot is a story all by itself}.
A bright spot in my art career is my photo of my drawing from witness description in a 1981 murder case that appear in a true crime book called Eyes of a Monster. And my courtroom art in the Netflix documentary Innocence Files.
Luke asked me about my favorite Christmas memory and I drew a blank (at my age I am allowed). Until I remembered a Christmas Eve when I was a young, pre-teen, We usually celebrated my grandma’s which was two floors down from the converted attic I lived in with my mom, dad, and sister. With 13 cousins (my dad had 8 brothers and sisters) and all the adults it was crammed full of people drinking and eating eastern European food like perogies and bobaiki (little baked dough dumpling desserts served with honey). Probably stuffed cabbage soup which we ate so frequently it could hardly be called remarkable. Traditional probably. Very chaotic evening.
My cousin and I decided to “walk the avenue” which meant strolling down the street to the main drag where we bought penny candy at a mom and pop store. Eventually, we wound up at the drug store in the vitamin section. We spotted a container labeled “catnip” and read the dosage as FOR CHILDREN. We bought it and stood in the cold icy snow-caked sidewalk and laughed until we almost you know what.
What is interesting in memories is that you probably won’t remember any presents (ok well maybe engagement rings), but you will remember experiences good and awful. Laughing at catnip is a pretty good example.
