The big day’s come and gone, but before I forget, a recap.
Our nod to the traditional Christmas Eve feast of the seven fishes was a pot of my father’s famous clam chowder, shared with our guest and dear friend Mary Anne, who brought a cheesecake for desert and sat up watching Norwegian train videos with us.
After Polly, Donna, and I exchanged gifts Christmas morning, we continued the holiday feast with Donna’s traditional Christmas eggs Benedict. That evening, I grilled steaks while Donna broiled lobster tails, which we ate after a nice FaceTime visit with our son and his family in Las Vegas. A perfectly lovely day.
Tonight, Donna and Mary Anne are going to a Boxing Day party hosted by friends, a party I’ve attended with them in the past but which I’m skipping this year.
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The dogs had their own present to unwrap, which we road-tested as soon as it warmed up a bit.
It’s a triple lead, and I’m happy to say Mister B … who’s always walked on a separate leash before, as far from his yoked step-sisters as it would stretch … seemed perfectly okay flying close formation with Lulu and Fritzi. Supposedly tangle-proof, the three of them managed to twist it up pretty good before we even got out the door, but not so badly I needed to stop and untangle them. In short, it’s a success.
I gave Donna a winter jacket, a slouchy cashmere beanie, and a gift certificate for a pedicure. For Polly, we picked out a solar-powered Casio watch. Donna says my stocking stuffer was a clip-on dog treat holder for iPhones, a device to get the dog in your lap to look into the camera for selfies, but at the last minute it went into the package we sent the kids in Las Vegas. Dang, that’s the one that got away … now that I know such a thing exists, I don’t know how I can go on living without one of my own!
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There was nothing new for the watch collection under the tree (not that we had a tree), but then again it’s been less than two months since Halloween, when I got this Seiko GMT. I wore the colorful thing yesterday. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you can see the magnifying cyclops lens over the date window, which gives it a ritzy look but is tricky to capture in photos. If you don’t shoot the cyclops straight on, lined up directly over the date, it winds up looking like a random raindrop that’s fallen on the crystal.
My surprise gift from Donna was a new air compressor for the garage. The last one, a cheap contraption bought at a discount auto parts store, had a predictably short shelf life, and I’ve been driving down to the air base to fill tires. Donna asked my friend & motorcycle maintenance guru Ed which one to get and he steered her toward this model. Never mind how far Sears has fallen, Craftsman is still Craftsman, and I’m delighted.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, as they say, and Merry Christmas anyway to those of you who don’t!