25 December

Here it is, folks. The first time I've been in Brookline on this day. It's cold and raining. There may be a break in the afternoon and I will go walking. I listened to Neil's reading of a Christmas Carol. I will also listed to Thomas's Child's Christmas in Wales. I bought myself a Whitman's sampler on sale. Fewer chocolates that I remember. About half, I'd say. Still, it reminds of my Grandmother, who would always get one and would share with me the following week! I remember one horrible one that had a hard red jelly inside. How I love a cherry cordial. Now it tastes like cheap milk chocolate. Owned now by Lindt, they can do better. Anyway, it's fun to have that little piece of the past.

This is a nostalgia holiday, when we return to home base, touch that tree, remember. This morning I thought of my cousin, driving home from her mother's funeral from Oregon to Texas. Free. And that lead me to Janis. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose. But when we lose the past, the parents, we need new tethers. New handholds on life, like an astronaut climbing a solar sail. Otherwise, we end up alone. Unguarded in a cold room like Scrooge. What will I be like post-plague? I like to think that with a new home, a dining room, I can be open and welcoming. Grounded and enough. We shall see.

Need to do some laundry, start to pack, start a grocery list to pick up at Stop and Shop. I'd like to unpack a bit as well.

Next week on the Cape, will do a Master Class or two, walk, bike, write, play games. By the pricking of my thumbs, a hopeful new year this way comes.