This holiday season has been marred by adversity. I have noticed that our posts have avoided a lot of discussion about the Coronavirus pandemic that has been raging this year. It has dramatically affected how we interact with our family and friends. At the holidays, it is a matter of safety that our gatherings are tiny and we don’t do hugs and handshakes anymore.
But we are decorating and we are having feasts, though they might require shuttling food between houses so that we can share a meal even if we can’t share a space.
Last year, we got a “fake” tree. I’ll call it a horticultural mannequin. It takes about 5 minutes to put up and it looks lovely. No needles on the floor, no worries that it has stopped taking water after three days under the heater.
We found a large wreath decoration in the attic and it had this detachable bow. It has added a nice little accent to the mantel lighting.
It’s just a lovely glow of everything this time of year. I am proud of our home right now.
Our front yard has the kind of tree lights that Shelly has always wanted. We have the perfect tree for it now where we can run the lights up and down the branches.
With any luck, next year can be the kind of year that this year should have been. We have a new kitchen with two large ovens, stocks of acorn squash and butternuts in the shed right now and we have pepper jelly and home made jam and pickles and all kinds of things we would love to share with our family and friends.
For next year, we have even planted some garlic. I just have so much hope for happiness and togetherness once we get through this crisis. In the meantime, we will make the best of our situation and get as much out of the holidays as we can.