Month: December 2021

We watched Don’t Look Up last night. It was brilliant. They did not pull any punches in satirizing our petty, narcissistic, greedy, shallow society, especially the power-hungry and demigogic tech billionaires who will do anything for a buck (or a billion or so of them), opting not to save humankind from certain destruction.

The actors were excellent in their roles; they were very effective in getting you to despise them or root for them (the latter in much shorter supply). By the end of the movie, I was actually hoping the comet would hit Earth and just put an end to all this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.

One of may favorite jabs was the “Don’t Look Up” slogan with an arrow pointing downward. The blinders-wearing followers of the president enthusiastically wore hats with the logo. It wasn’t until someone in the crowd at a rally actually looked up and saw the comet heading toward Earth that they realized they had been duped; it was not “fake news,” after all.

What will it take some of our fellow citizens to look up?

Starting last summer, we contemplated all sorts of ways to spend winter break.

We considered reconstructing part of our COVID-cancelled summer trip of 2020 to Portugal and Spain. After shopping for plane tickets, which are about three times the price around Christmastime, and fearing testing positive and not being able to come home on time, we bagged that idea.

We thought about joining some friends on their trip to Puerto Rico. Being a US territory, we wouldn’t have to fear a quarantine. Our friends had points to use at a resort, so they could stay for free. We did not. Plus, I’m not really a resort kind of person. I found a cute little cottage a mile down the beach from the resort, but I just couldn’t justify the price of plane tickets. They, too, were about three times the price they normally would be – plus, to get a remotely affordable ticket, you would have to fly around your elbow to get to your…you know.

We then thought about joining some other friends on their ski trip. No snow + Edwin not being a fan of skiing = never mind.

So, here we are, cozy as can be at Chris’s parents’ lake house in Brevard, NC. They had been searching around for a place all last spring and summer and finally found their spot in late August. It’s a charming three-bedroom on a small lake in a mountain community. We have spent the last three days playing games, reading books, hiking and browsing the shops in Brevard. We drove the 45 minutes to Asheville yesterday and wandered the streets, stopping in a brewery (I highly recommend Burial – some of the best IPA I’ve had yet), browsing the art galleries in the River Arts district, and ducking in and out of shops. The kids were impressed by Asheville, and Edwin said he could see himself living here. I guess it has the right balance of art, progressive sentiment, and respectable coffee shops (now that he’s getting his barista training, his standards have risen).

I’ve finished two books and taken a nap the past two days. I think we chose well.

Chris and I seized on our free afternoon and went to the Downtown Holiday Market near the Portrait Gallery to see what we could find for people on our Christmas list. We parked a few blocks from the action and readied ourselves for the hustle and bustle amid the sea of tents.

Well, we’re not out of the woods yet with COVID, and the dramatically reduced number of vendors accentuated this reality. The air was still festive with the aroma of honey-roasted nuts and a live band playing Christmas tunes with a cute little girl bopping to the beat in front of the stage, lollipop in hand.

I enjoyed browsing the goods in each tent and found a few – if not “perfect” gifts – gifts that fit some people on our list. For my Harry Potter-obsessed niece, I bought four ornaments representing the Harry Potter houses made out of recycled HP book pages. The artist is DC-based, and a healthy percentage of each sale goes to support transgender rights. Score.

The final tent we came to was a tea vendor. Edwin has been really into tea lately, so we carefully selected four types: rooibos Frappuccino, black tea chai, green tea lychee rose, and white tea lychee (he’s a big lychee fan). I also threw in a bag of candied ginger and a personal tea pot.

To round out the excursion, we ducked into a ramen shop and shared a bowl of soup and some dumplings. I could get used to a four-hour work day!

Some holiday traditions I enjoy:

Egg nog and brandy

Playing A Very Special Christmas album while making cookies and turning up the volume when we get to “Christmas in Hollis.”

Watching Love Actually with Maxine.

Watching The Family Stone with Edwin and Maxine (too cheesy for Chris).

Going to our neighborhood church on Christmas Eve. The pastor (kind of) jokes that it would be great to have this kind of crowd on Sundays. The kids used to grab costumes out of their holiday stash and sashay down the aisles as wrinkled and disheveled wisemen, angels, and donkeys. I think, sadly, they’ve outgrown this.

Holding up the LED “candles” to join in the final hymn of the evening, “Silent Night.”

Practicing Christmas carols from the old Austrian piano book my mom passed down to me.

A white elephant Christmas party with friends (held in the frigid outdoors last year around a fire).

Making potato and cheese enchiladas for New Year’s Eve dinner.

Having a dance party on NYE, but that tradition has fallen by the wayside these past few years.

Making brioche French toast on New Year’s Day as a sweet to the black-eyed peas’ salty.

Making a pot of smoky black-eyed peas and (veggie) bacon on New Year’s Day.

Going for a friends and family hike at Great Falls on New Year’s Day.

I’m hoping to do all of these this year, but the dance party will be a mere whisper of what it was in its glory days, but I’m okay with that.

We made three batches of cookies yesterday, with Edwin taking the lead. I limited the endeavor to three types of cookies, so we all agreed on one, and the kids each selected one.

The one we all agreed on was not even up for discussion: the family Christmas favorite, burnt sugar ginger cookies. The recipe calls for melting sugar and freshly grated ginger root into a liquid and quickly spreading it onto an oiled sheet to harden in preparation for breaking it up into pieces to stir into the batter. When baked, this melts into the cracks of the cookies. They are divine.

Edwin selected the almond ricotta bars, which are quire decadent with a cream cheese and almond extract icing. Maxine opted for boozy chocolate balls. We have decided these win over the handed-down family recipe of bourbon balls. Though both contain bourbon, the latter includes crushed vanilla wafers, which produce a flavor and texture too focused on the wafers and not enough on the chocolate.

Edwin still takes great joy in sharing his baking with friends, particularly two of my discerning close friends in the neighborhood (and his favorite moms). He offered to drop Maxine off at a friend’s house so he could make the cookie rounds. He packed up three plates with a sampling of each batch and dropped one with the family of the friend Maxine was visiting and then his two favorites. When the praises rolled in, he smiled widely, quite satisfied with the endeavor.

I went to a show at the 9:30 Club a few weeks ago, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post. Tomorrow night, Chris and are are going to dinner and then a show at The Anthem for a friend’s birthday. I also purchased tickets for Maxine and me to go see Rent at Signature Theater on New Year’s Day. I guess I’m making up for a year and half of no live music or theater.

Meanwhile, there’s an extra-spikey new variant making its way around the world, but I can’t bring myself to get too worked up about it. When I think about COVID these days, I feel nothing. I mean, I wear my mask in public places and get tested weekly, and I’ve had my booster, but when I hear news of it, it’s like there’s nothing left in the tank.

We used to surprise the kids with Christmas gifts, rarely asking them what they wanted, which worked beautifully for both givers and receivers for a while. We took pride in knowing our children so well that we could select the perfect gifts. The little plastic table that lit up different colors as you played different keys; the churches, cottages, and ice rink for Edwin’s Christmas village; the white and purple ice skates for Maxine – all were hits.

As they’ve gotten older, however, it has become darn near impossible to get it right without consulting them. I’ve always detested things like Amazon gift lists, but with teenagers? I’ve decided to embrace the links and specific color and size specifications with open arms. For the first time, we’ve told them, “Send us the links.” Everyone will be happier for it. Ho ho ho!