The morning is cold, 32°. The wind makes it colder. I have to go out for another concert. Yesterday’s went well. We actually got a standing ovation. I think today I’ll bundle up in a few layers. I have my thick, warm sweater, my pseudo winter coat. It keeps away the cold. Lots to do. I have to fill the bird feeders. I still need to decorate the house. I need my tree. My days have just been too busy with a concert ever day, but I have all day tomorrow.

Henry avoids me. I started the eye medication yesterday so now he runs when I walk toward him. Today I bribed him with an extra treat. He is supposed to get medication at least once a day, but the vet preferred twice so that’s what I’m doing.

Daily mouse count: one today making the total five.

I remember when I was three or four and we lived in South Boston. Santa came to our apartment. My mother got us picture ready. I wore a dress and my brother wore his good pants and a shirt with a tie. I was the first to sit on Santa’s lap. I have a picture somewhere in this house of me with Santa that day. We were sitting on the couch. I am staring right at Santa’s face. I look awed, the look of a believer actually meeting Santa Claus. I don’t remember any conversation. I do remember my brother. He refused to go near Santa. He cried. I watched from behind the barely opened bedroom door. My mother thought it would be easier for my brother if I weren’t in the room. Nope. He never did sit on Santa’s lap.

One year we got a telegram from Santa. It was a real telegram delivered right to our door. It was addressed to The Ryan Children. On the top of the paper was Santa in his sleigh with his reindeer flying in front. The message looked as if the words had been cut and pasted. I know exactly what it said as I still have that telegram. Santa reminded us we needed to be good, and that he was looking forward to visiting our house on Christmas Eve. It was so exciting to get that telegram. My parents made Christmas exciting.

The rain started last night and continues today. The weatherman says rain most of the afternoon possibly changing to snow in the late afternoon. It is cold, only 39°. I had a late start as I took Henry to the vet. He has red all around the sockets of his eyes. He had it three years ago, but it went away. This time it hasn’t. Henry isn’t bothered by it, and he lets me clean it so it doesn’t hurt. The vet checked a swab of the redness under the microscope. He thinks it is a seasonal allergy so I have to swab the areas with an ointment twice a day. Henry also got his rabies shot, a heart worm test and his nails trimmed. I’m still taken aback by the bill.

Remember I told you I thought I had mice in the cabinet? That has been confirmed. Yesterday, two small ones were in the trap. The peanut butter was gone. Now the mice are gone, let free. This morning I checked and lo and behold I had two more small ones. They are also free. I’ll reset the trap and put it back in the cabinet. I’m keeping a rolling count.

When I was a kid, I loved going down stairs in the morning this time of year. As soon as I got to the bottom stairs, I could smell the Christmas tree, the sweet pine that always triggers memories of Christmas. I used to love to lie under the tree and look up to see the branches and lights. As soon as it got dark in the late afternoon, we raced to be the one to turn on the tree lights. I remember there were plugs all attached to each other in a row and one plug to rule them all, sorry, one to hold all the other plugs. You had to crawl under the tree to plug in the lights. Those were the days of a whole string of lights going dark when one bulb died. I can still see my father testing each bulb. I always wondered if maybe there were two or even three dead bulbs. I never said that out loud. When it happened to me in my own house, I’d have an empty strand and test the bulbs one at a time.

I have a concert this afternoon. I’ve already filled my bag with a Christmas fascinator, jingle bells, squeeze toys and a couple of metal antique noisemakers. I’m ready.