“Christmas is anticipation for the children; it is memory for most adults.”
Today is winter. It is cold, 35°. The sky is partly blue as the sun has poked through the grey clouds, but the sun isn’t enough. It is light, not warmth. It is a day to stay close to hearth and home.
This cold is still hanging around. I spend my days on the couch, mostly napping. The dogs join me.
A box from my sister Moe was delivered yesterday. I have left it unopened. I figured Nala would steal whatever she could. My backyard would be cluttered with wrapping paper, festive but nonetheless messy.
My mother used to put wrapped presents for each of us under the tree. We knew what one of the presents was, new pajamas. She would tell us on Christmas Eve we could open one gift, but she wouldn’t let us pick. It was always the new pajamas. It was always anticlimactic.
My sister Moe has a Christmas talent. She can pick up a gift, shake it a couple of times and then guess correctly what it is. She honed this talent when she was young. Back then she’d tear a small piece off the corner of the wrapped gifts under the tree, hers and ours, and then guess the gift. She was right every time.
My mother used to hide gifts in the eaves and in a downstairs closet. One Christmas Eve I was awakened by music. I peeked. My father was in the eaves and my mother was below, in the hall. He was handing the gifts to her, the Santa gifts, the gifts she had hidden. The toy that woke me was a push toy for my sister Moe. It played music when you pushed it. I stayed awake listening. My mother made trip after trip carrying presents down the stairs. When they were both in the living room, I crept down the stairs. I watched them put the presents under the tree. I didn’t get caught. After a bit, I sneaked back to bed and easily fell asleep. Morning came quickly.
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December 21, 2023 at 6:34 pm
Hi Kat,
I hope you are recovering from your cold.
Today is an ugly day with fog, low ceilings, and rain with a high temperature of only 60°.
A couple of weeks ago we had a squirrel who was trying to find a way out of our attic through the wall and into my water heater closet which is located in our laundry room. He or she, finally departed through the back door after eating through the washing machine power cord. The good part is that we discovered that our ten year old water heater was very slowly leaking. Luckily, we found a very highly recommended plumber on the app Next Door. He came early yesterday morning and replaced it. When he wheeled out the old one I noticed that there was more rust visible underneath where we couldn’t see it in the closet. We didn’t want to get a flooded house as an unwelcome Christmas Day present. 🙂 The plumber told me that ten years is a reasonable age to replace your water heater.
Today I left work at noon for the rest of the year. They give us the week between Christmas and New Years off work. Tonight I’m planning on watching the Netflix movie, “Maestro”.
December 21, 2023 at 9:01 pm
Hi Bob,
Thanks! I’m getting better slowly. This laid me flat
My water heater started leaking from the rusted bottom. I only found out when I went down the cellar for something. It had been leaking a while as one side of the cellar had a lot of water. The plumber came that day and turned off the hot water. He came back the next day and replaced it. The owner is one of my former students.
I hope you enjoy your vacation. My father used to take off the Christmas week every year. It was nice having him around for the festivities.
December 21, 2023 at 10:16 pm
Make a note of the date you replaced it in your iPad so ten years from know you will replace it with a new one again. 🙂
December 21, 2023 at 10:17 pm
That’s a great idea!! Thanks!!