Christmas and Other Doings

Our 90+ year old aunt invited my brother and me for Christmas dinner, as she has done for several years. The party consisted of a friend/colleague of hers (who handled the cooking) and two other regulars: a husband and wife (who has a bit of Alzheimers). We arrived at about 3:00 and had pleasant conversation over wine and cheese until dinner was ready at about 5:00. The main dish was a boneless roast leg of lamb — very tasty. Desserts were pumpkin, mince, and pecan (the friend is from Oklahoma) pies. The only one I think I like is pumpkin, but I decided to have a sliver of each and was surprised to find I actually found the mince and the pecan pleasant. After dinner, back to the living room. I was about to suggest it was time to go home when two other friends of my aunt's showed up. So we had to stay a while in order to avoid seeming to have left on account of their arrival. Got home just after 9:00.

The next day, we had lamb chops for dinner. I had bought them a few days earlier, figuring that we'd have turkey, as usual, at my aunt's. It's probably the first time in my life I've had lamb two days in a row, except as leftovers. But I like lamb, so I didn't mind. It just isn't something I have very often.

Christmas gifts. I gave my big brother a 12-pack of beer, which is customary, and a book of sudoku puzzles. I sent scarves to my kid brother and sister-in-law. Big bro gave me a wall calendar, which is customary, and a phone apparatus with remote handsets, which I needed to replace one whose battery doesn't take a full charge. Kid bro and s-i-l sent a book*, a cd of Gregorian Chant from a group she is involved with, and "from the cats" a box of Japanese rice crackers (senbei).

* The book looks pretty interesting. It's My Promised Land, by Ari Shavit. It's his personal perspective on Zionism and Israeli history. I've only glanced at it, but it seems that he sees both good things and serious mistakes in the history. I'm planning to make it my table reading after I finish my current book, The Signal and the Noise, by Nate Silver. (You can google the books if you want to know more about them.)

Brother, food. My brother, who visits every weekend when he isn't traveling, got here Christmas Eve and stayed through New Year's Day. Then he came back for this weekend. In addition to the lamb chops, we enjoyed baked stuffed haddock, dinner at a nice restaurant, ribeye steaks, my version of shrimp scampi, steamed salmon, duck (must make duck soup soon), lobster, and I forget what all else. Today, I did spambled egg muffins for breakfast (I like to have it once or twice a year), and tonight I'll have another ribeye steak (bro is back in Boston) for Twelfth night. Except for the holidays and Sundays my brother makes his own breakfasts, and he generally makes himself a sandwich for lunch, so I only have to do the dinners.

Storm. The big storm came through on Thursday and Friday, but it only gave us about a foot of snow. The roads were very slippery on Thursday. Friday, after it stopped, there was beautiful white packed powder on the streets, which made a nice crunching sound under the tires. On Saturday, the ice and salt began to turn it into brown slush. I managed to get a bit of recreational shoveling in, but my plowman took care of the driveway and his assistant shoveled to the side door; and my good neighbor brought his snowblower and took care of the sidewalks and the walk to my front door. The wind had kept half of the walk to the garage clear, and I handled the rest with almost no effort.

Nick. In mid-December I learned that a guy in his late twenties — whom I've had a very mild crush on for several years — was hospitalized for depression. I never would have suspected he was depressed, but then he lives out of town so I don't see much of him. I happened to notice him on Facebook and sent a friend request, which he accepted. I then suggested he might like to go to a concert or play with me sometime. He expressed interest in symphony, and I think we may go to a concert in March.

Spiritual Direction. My spiritual director retired and moved to Maine a few months ago. Eventually he made arrangements to use a rectory in the area for sessions with me and with a couple of other directees. But on both occasions when he has scheduled meetings, snowsrtorms have been predicted, so he hasn't been able to come. I hope I'll have something good to talk about (i.e., some progress in some regard) by the time we get together again.