Holidays Here and There

From file written February 12, 1996

I changed my December visit to Carli and Tom in Palo Alto so I could be here for the rug auction I wrote you about. Then I took off for ten days with them. It was lovely. They are very happy together, and it is a joy to be with them.

We went to the Christmas-tree farm to cut trees for them and for Tom’s daughter Kris and her husband Derek. The latter tree was picture-book pretty. Carli and Tom’s was a disaster, though it looked gorgeous in the field when we all agreed on it.

The trunk had a bend in it, which left the tree lurching toward the wall. By the time Tom had it balanced properly, looking as normal as possible under the circumstances, there was a great limbless hole in plain sight. We filled it with all the long ornaments we could find and declared that the finished tree “had character.”

 

I returned home with a serious cold that went into so bad a sore throat that both the doctor and I thought it was strep again. By the time the culture report came along, antibiotics had things under control. My holidays were quiet and non-alcoholic, needless to say. No matter, it gave me time to work on my report of the trip to Morocco, Spain, and France.

Christmas morning María and Alex came up, and we had our usual delightful opening-of-presents under the occasionally-interested eyes of the two dogs.

María invited me for Christmas dinner, along with her brother. Elmer has been pretty low since the death of their father in November. Fortunately he was in good spirits, and we had a lovely time.

María had a beautiful ham, and I fixed a casserole of mashed potatoes and one of mixed vegetables in cheese sauce. We had Alex’s usual birthday/Christmas cake for dessert, though I’m not sure Alex appreciated María’s sharing it with us all. That was my Christmas spree.

Boxing Day, Emilie Bowen invited me for mid-day dinner. She wanted to get up a bridge afternoon, but no one was available. We had a delightful visit, just the two of us, and enjoyed her replay of Christmas dinner.

As for New Year’s, I invited Callie Young for coffee on the Sunday morning before New Year’s. She is one of my oldest friends and practically a recluse for the last many years. We had a lovely visit.

Then on New Year’s Day, Emilie Bowen and Betty Lindo came for a beer before we all went out for mid-day dinner. The hotels were not serving, so we ended up at our favorite Chinese restaurant. The food is very good, and it is a pleasant place. Betty’s husband is the Belizean Ambassador in Washington, so she had lots of entertaining tales to tell.