Holiday and Festivals

It's been a busy couple days. Though I do not celebrate these holidays with family, it frees me up to be with my friends. I'm very thankful for that. Last Saturday, as many of you already know since you were there, I attended a holiday concert of rockabilly and surf music. A freakin' bargain at five bucks. Many thanks to Deb for putting it all together and convincing me to come all the way across Connecticut. And a shout out to Ninth Wave for a fantastic set! Jason James also rocked the Zen Bar late into the night (sorta Zenish, I guess).

Christmas Eve, I worked and worked. It used to be that when I was in my late teens and early twenties, I worked at a bookstore in the mall (most of my paycheck went to books) and I would always take heavy hours during the holiday. This was not only to give people some time off, but it was also a lot of fun because people are just nuts. Some are in a great mood, smiling and laughing as they make their purchases and hurry off home. Others are just wild-eyed with panic and fatigue. The entire gamut of emotions were on display.

But this Eve, I was driving back from Ashford down twisty Route 89. There was a full moon out that night and it hung large through the tree branches -- you know how sometimes the moon can look bigger than it usually does. As I rolled through the curves, the moon swung back and forth, first to the left and then to the right. It was lovely and calm, like a poem waiting to be written.

After a quick dinner, I ate sugar cookies and watched Rudolph with my neighbor. Reminiscing about how these shows traumatized us ensued (the abominable snow person, as Kate would attest later in holiday was scary!). I also noted that everybody, especially Santa, were complete assholes. And we couldn't figure out what was wrong with the little dolly on the Island of Misfit Toys (and what the heck is King Moonracer's backstory??)

Christmas day I drove up to New York to visit Kate and Gene and Kate's brother, Robert. For some reason I thought the roads would be fairly clear but I think it was full of people escaping from their families and finding no perch to land upon. Certainly with all the weaving in and out of traffic, a number of them were full of Christmas "cheer."

I finally made it to New York (gosh it's great that I know Kate's directions were going to be perfect -- you can always rely on her for that). I entered a house from a novel. Three floors, packed with plants (pokey lemon trees on the landings), paintings from floor to ceiling, and elaborate chandeliers. I was reminded of Sir John Soane's museum in London where he had bequeathed his house/museum (this was Britain in the 19th century, at the height of its imperial power) only if it was kept the way it was. So, there it is, a relic itself.

It was fantastic to see everybody. Just like old times. Gene was frosting cookies in the shapes of superheros (and one villain -- I wonder if he ever saw that Robert and I had amputated the Green Goblin's legs?). We watched Stardust, which was one I had been waiting to see. Then we drank, ate chocolate and had a wonderful Christmas Goose (and mashed potatoes, and chestnut stuffing, and green beans). I never had goose before and it was yummy. Then we watched Rudolph (again for me) and then a Junky's Christmas. We tried to watch the Simpson's movie but even Kate was falling asleep.

The bed was hard, but I loved it -- slept like a rock (ha ha ). In the morning, I woke up to quiche and bacon and coffee. I could get used to being waiting upon like this! But I had to be off -- back to Connecticut. Merry holidays everybody!