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As some friends and family already know, our family syncs winter celebrations with Hanukkah at Laurie's and, for the last nine or so years, the Wanderers solstice party. The Hunukkah date is at the families' convenience, which this year meant December 21st, Saturday.
Christmas itself is a day to kick back and play with toys, me reminiscing with Dr. Kent (whom I met at the London Knowledge Lab) about ISETL (a didactic gizmo) on Math Future, before ascending Mt. Tabor (sounds impressive but it's just a bump).
Tara is catching up on Hitchcock films this season and I re-watched most of The Birds. I thought I'd seen Vertigo but watching it today left me wondering: is my memory really that bad? Yes, probably. Now that I've read the murder mystery around Mary Meyer (friend for Jack Kennedy, former wife of Cord Meyer), with its beckoned witness, its patsy, its assassin, I have more ways to remember.
Alexia, being service sector, like me in some ways, is working today. We get our hours off other times sometimes. I'm actually not doing anything except to enjoy the time off. Most of Portland is doing the same, with most businesses closed, streets thinly trafficked. Safeway was open though, meaning I could resupply with bay leaves, an onion, detergent and other sundries. Some ciders.
We're looking after two additional non-humans these days, a poodle and an unseen cat. The cat is somewhat theoretical, but I swing by its outdoor encampment and refill its bowl from time to time, with no visual proof that another animal isn't doing the munching.
The poodle belongs to Alexia, Dawn's daughter by her dad Tom. I was not a custodial parent if that's what "step" means in the eyes of the law, though she did come and live with us from about age sixteen until college (starting at Willamette U., one of Oregon's best). Then she married into the US Army and moved to Clarksville, TN. She came back after a subsequent marriage. She lived here (Blue House) this summer in fact, in Tara's room, before moving to current digs.
Lindsey has been picking up more Buddhist practices (not surprising in this zip code) and weaving a wreath for her girlfriend Melody. Tara and I plan to drop by Melody's later. then hang out with Alexia. I'm baking Teresina Lentils for the occasion, as I sip ciders, blog, and upload to Photostream.
Carol, my mom, is with my sister in Whittier, CA. She's been discovering more relatives on her side of the family, meaning Goldens. Goldens and Urners have likely overlapped before according to Grandma Margie Reilley's research.
I ate at Fujin on Tuesday, wanting to have a last cold sesame noodles and crispy eggplant (brought some home) before they close at the end of this year, lease not renewed by their speculating landlord. Fujin has been an institution on Hawthorne since before my own scenario began here, in the early 1990s.
