Happy Thanksgiving and All Other Holidays!

Thanksgiving (11/26/21) was upon us before I knew it. Melodee left on Saturday. Lowcountry Coalition Against Hate had a zoom meeting on the following Tuesday, and Drinking Liberally was that same afternoon; and then, Thursday was Thanksgiving. Lynn and Tom had accepted an invitation from their neighbor for Thanksgiving dinner, so that left Chris and me to do our vegetarian thing – which we did in grand style! I have never seen so much food for two people – a lentil loaf, a mushroom loaf with gravy, green bean casserole, zucchini and corn dish, sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, and cranberry crack – to be followed by pumpkin cheesecake!! It was all delicious and I felt like I waddled away with a bag full of food for the days to come. I already had leftovers from Melodee’s visit so my fridge was stacked 3-high with food. My first job the next morning was to tackle the fridge and repackage everything to make it manageable.

The next evening, Maria and Mark, my neighbors across the street, invited me over for Thanksgiving leftovers. They had picked up their Thanksgiving Day food at Kenny B’s, a New Orleans-style place on the island, and realized that most of it had meat in it. So, Maria made a delicious ethnic stew (maybe Ethiopian or Nigerian), with her delicious black beans, rice, and pumpkin pie. Again, I came home with a doggie bag! I may not have to cook for the next week!

Before going to bed that night (11/26), I checked my phone one last time. A notification from Capital One flashed by reporting 2 charges ($1500+ each!) to my credit card. So, my last act before going to bed around 10:30 was to call Capital One and deal with it! I did get a very nice young man who made it as easy as possible, but my card was frozen and I was issued a new one….and we all know everything involved with contacting businesses with recurring charges. My new card arrived on Monday and much of a day will be spent dealing with all of that. Even so, I’m glad they and I caught it so quickly.

Thanksgiving weekend is my traditional time to do Christmas decorating, so the day after Thanksgiving I half-heartedly dragged the Christmas decorations out of the garage and began strewing them around the house! I started with the easy stuff and worked up to the tree, which I tackled on Saturday (11/27). I spent much of the day with the larger tree, fussing over the fiddly lights. Every year, I wonder if it is worth it! In any case, most of the lights are working. I did get the smaller tree up and decorated, but it is much easier to do. On Sunday I will finish the larger tree, take care of the final details, and call it quits. My mantra has been “this shall not spillith over into Monday!” Whatever made it up by the end of the day Sunday shall now be called Christmas decorations!

As part of the Michael Keaton Festival, I’ve been watching Dopesick in the evenings, which is not an uplifting series. It’s a sad commentary on so many things in our society (as is confirmed when Rudi Giuliani pops up in it!). Once I finish it, I’m going to find another Michael Keaton movie or series to watch.

After a few days of rest from the weekend decorating, the end of the week (12/1–12/3) was spent dining and enjoying the company of friends. I treated Chris to a belated birthday lunch celebration in Savannah.  She chose Troupial, a Venezuelan restaurant, as our dining destination; but, as luck would have it, they were closed for renovations. We then searched out The Haunt, a vegan restaurant we had heard a lot about, and they, too, were closed. That left us with Naan on Broughton, which by no means is a bad consolation! We both like Indian food and it is the best we’ve found. I’m so lucky to have a friend who enjoys trying new foods and we decided we need to do this regularly. Savannah has much more to offer than we take advantage of and the vegan-vegetarian food scene really seems to be popping. I’m looking forward to exploring more.

Thursday, Tippy and I met up at Ruan to Thai one on! It is a go-to spot within walking distance of my house and whenever Tippy is out this way she gives me a call to meet up. She filled me in on her last mountain trip…and, of course, we talked politics (as happens with all of my friends!).

Normally, Chris and I would see each other again on Friday at our Pandemic Pals gathering. Sadly, Lynn’s sister passed away and she was out of town for her funeral. Tom couldn’t join us since their son was in town. So, Chris and I decided to dine at Olive and Fig for the F-word, though Chris branched out and had something different! We had planned to eat at 5PM, but the day was so beautiful that I texted Chris to ask if we might get together for lunch – and dine outside (70 degrees in December!). She was up for it and that’s what we did. It really was delightful in every way.

On Sunday, I had a few things to do in the morning but after lunch, Rosie and I went to Beaufort to walk around the waterfront park. It seemed the perfect thing to do on yet another beautiful day. I’ve purchased a backseat pet cover and put Rosie’s bed back there, and I’m hoping to get her more accustomed to riding in the car AND having new experiences. She is the Queen of the neighborhood, but take her anyplace else and she is easily frightened. There was no issue whatsoever with the drive – no panting, nothing! However, there were many things that unsettled her, like the white marking at a crosswalk! She would not walk across them but went around them! Loud sounds, kids playing roughly in the park, etc. – all unsettling. There were lots of kids around and in a comfortable setting she would have zeroed in on them. She was on too much of an alert to do that, although there were a couple of people that she approached….and got very positive responses. I certainly hope I’m not traumatizing her (Cheryl, let me know and offer suggestions) but I would like for her to become more comfortable with new experiences….and know that I am not going to let anything happen to her if I can possibly help it.

Several times I’ve mentioned the nice weather, and I have to say it again. We had several
weeks of the temperature dropping down into the 30s at night, and that’s cold for us. Our houses are built on slabs and temps that low make it really hard to warm up in the morning. Over the last week, it’s only dropped into the high 40s or even 50s, and the days have been sunny and in or around the 70s. Glorious, especially for December! That’s what spurred our trip to Beaufort today and I think we will keep venturing out as long as it stays this nice. The other thing I've really enjoyed this year is the falling leaves. Even my little, scrawny tree and shed beautiful leaves and there are other areas in the community where they've been allowed to gather, and on our walks we see them rolling along the street or floating down from the tree. We seem obsessive about raking and blowing them up ASAP but I've really enjoyed seeing them around for a while.

I confess to having no enthusiasm for the upcoming holidays and think I will feel better when they are behind us. When Melodee was here I told her I felt like I just want to pull the covers over my head and hibernate! My hope is that not everyone feels as I do and that it will truly be a season of peace, love, and joy. Here's wishing you all the best - health, happiness, and prosperity - over Christmas and in the coming year. Love to all.