Christmas 2020’s going to live on in the collective memory, isn’t it? And not just for those of us who observed quarantine, bubble, and stay-at-home precautions, but also for those who ignored them, knowing very well they shouldn’t have (and with luck won’t suffer consequences to themselves or their loved ones).
Either way, we’ll remember this as our pandemic Christmas, different from the ones we’re used to. Which isn’t to say it was a bad one … we, at least, had a cozy, quite wonderful day, and so did Mister B, here snuggling in his blanket. On his couch, in his house, with his people, just the way he likes his world.
Well, I said this would be a photoblog, so here we go.
As you can see, we didn’t decorate the house this year. Still, our home felt Christmassy, with Handel’s Messiah playing on the stereo and a two-dimensional Yule log crackling in the family room.
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We slept in, a rare treat for us. Dawn was late, as it is this time of year; outside it was cold and windy with light sprinkles, about as wintery as it gets in southwest Arizona. It felt right to stay under the covers. Once up, we waited for Polly to come over, but after a while decided to unwrap our gifts without her (not to worry, there’s a happy ending coming).
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Later that morning we checked in with our son and his family in Las Vegas. Gregory and Beth, along with our grandchildren Taylor and Quentin (and Jordan, Taylor’s S.O.) had unwrapped their presents too, but waited for the Zoom get-together to open the gifts in their stockings. The indoor/outdoor weather station, by the way, was their gift to me.
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As ever, we cooked. Our bubble friend Mary Anne came over Christmas Eve for our traditional seafood fest. We fell somewhat short of the traditional seven fishes, but what we had was great: a shrimp boil, broiled lobster tails, cheddar biscuits, and twice-baked potatoes.
Donna made eggs Benedict for our Christmas day breakfast; I slow-cooked a brisket for dinner, which we ate with cole slaw and Lighthouse Inn potatoes.
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Polly arrived later in the afternoon. She had a cold and had been waiting for her COVID test results to be sure that’s all it was before she came over. She brought a wonderful gift: a watercolor painting of our beloved Maxie, who crossed the rainbow bridge just last month.
