Archive for January 4th, 2018

CHRISTMAS WRAP

Christmas is over, for the most part. I always find a stray ornament, a “Santa” dish towel, and some other surprise red thing after I’ve sealed the boxes for storage. No problem; I have a drawer in the guest room for “Holiday Addenda.”

A lot of food came in the door this year as Christmas presents—pears, home made biscotti, several kinds of fudge, and too many cookies to count. I loved them all and made sure I had enough company to share them.

What I didn’t get was:

1. Fruitcake. Yes, I like fruitcake. I know it gets bad press, but freshly made fruitcake is delicious, and this “like” is one of many others I have to defend.

Others are listed here.

2. Christmas letters. I read them all, carefully. Sure there’s a lot of duplication, like soccer/basketball/other-ball trophies won by grandchildren, and bucket list trips to Machu Pichu. But I love catching up. My Christmas list includes some I haven’t seen in decades. Even so, I like knowing what’s happening in the lives of people I once saw every day.

3. Cold. It’s hard for me to feel Christmasy when I’m wearing sandals.

4. Crackers. Not the edible kind, but the ones with silly hats and sillier jokes.

Sample: What do you call Santa’s little helpers?
Answer: Subordinate clauses!

5. Carols. I like them all, from Away in a Manger to Santa Baby to Jingle Bell Rock. And, yes, all the verses of 12 Days of Christmas.

6. Calendars. You can’t have too many. I need an arty one (Central Park in Art); a hometown one or two (Boston); one that has large numbers for the dates; one nearby to mark up; one right above my computer monitor; and a nostalgic one (from 2008 – can you guess what that is?) And those are just my office calendars.

New (l.): 2018 Picasso calendar; Old: NYC Cal to mark weeks of class

7. Needles all over the rug. Love them! I even featured them on my card this year. If you didn’t get one, it’s because I don’t have your address. Send it and you’ll have a card in the mail before all the trees are gone from the rubbish pickup pile.

What I don’t like: mystery presents, since I don’t know whom to thank. Here’s this year’s unknown:

CHOCOLATE ALERT

Mystery chocolate!

Does anyone recognize this gift? A box came in the mail with a large tin of Godiva truffles and a festive collection of cookies. The only return address is Bloomingdale’s in Palm Beach, FL. I don’t know anyone in Palm Beach. There is a name associated with the box, but I don’t recognize it — I’ll call it just D. B., to protect a potentially innocent person. A reward leading to the identity of the sender . . .

Finally, HAPPY NEW YEAR! And—wait for it—as of this writing there are 357 days, 2 hours, 37 minutes, 22 seconds till Christmas 2018!