Ehlana and Ethan:
We’re going to start this early-edition of our journal on a more-serious note; since the strain of dealing with the pandemic seems to be reaching our little town more than we expected it would heading into Christmas.
While that wasn’t as-obvious during the morning church service; we couldn’t ignore what we were sensing last night at the church – a lot of our neighbors feeling very uncomfortable with the larger crowd – even with masks and the social distancing that was possible with the use of the fellowship hall as well as the sanctuary. More of our seniors also stayed home – along with other people with higher-risk health issues. Having our first cases after Thanksgiving has everything to do with that, but since we can’t exactly just come out and announce that we could heal all cases here at home if needed; there really isn’t a way to ease those worries. We do hope that none of our returning collegians or holiday visitors will bring the virus here and spread it around again, but the risk is there; and we’ll deal with how that affects our community.
For last night, that effect was really just in a muted reaction to the teen-led Christmas show – a semi-musical, modernized version of the Christmas story that was fun, usually-funny for the right reasons, and a hit with their comparatively-subdued audience. The usual hot drinks and treats reception that follows the annual teen show was held outdoors this year – and we were two of the volunteers helping out with the work. While we did that, Cassie and Michael ended up going to the Inn to help out there with the clean-up that still waited to be done after the dinner rush that ended shortly-before show time; so we all ended up back at home by around ten-thirty. Sharing Jacuzzis and bathtubs was part of the plan to wrap up our weekend, and while there were bedtime chats too; most of us headed for our beds soon after taking our turns in the bathrooms.
We left our the afternoon fun from yesterday, but none of that ended up being very newsworthy – even though we had fun. Dad had some work to get done after his week in the city; Cassie, Michael, and May split their time between hanging out with us and spending time with aunts, uncles, and cousins; and we had an easy-dinner so that there wasn’t a lot of clean-up work ahead of the Christmas show. The weather today is warmer – not far from sixty; and it was above forty for Tai Chi by the river too. That made for a great start to our day; we had a hot breakfast before Dad left for the office; and then we did a few chores before meeting up with Naomi and Aiden. Biking and some park fun with our friends kept us busy until lunchtime – while Cassie and Michael spent time with his parents and family; there were six of us for lunch – including Mom and May; and then we had three collegians go for a bike ride with us that included an Olde Bakery snack break picnic at the falls – along with cups of hot chocolate from the Inn.
Cassie, Michael, and May moved on after that, but we came home then anyway and had a band practice. Naomi and Aiden are currently packing overnight bags for another sleepover here; and we’ll be heading over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house soon-after they get back so that we can welcome them home. Mom and May took care of getting their house ready for their return this morning, but that only required turning up the heat, doing a couple of chores, and picking up some basic groceries to get them through until they can do their own shopping tomorrow. The rest of our news for today can wait for the next update; since we’re going to once-again be too-busy with family-and-friends fun that will almost-certainly end in a co-ed sofa sleepover for at least four of us! ;^)
A long winter’s nap on the shortest day of the year won’t likely happen, since Christmas movies and cuddle time could keep us awake until late, but we’re okay with that plan; and got some extra rest last night anyway. Our Christmas song for today isn’t as well-known as many of our annual favorites, but we love it a lot; and hope that you will enjoy it too!
My Favorite Time of Year – The Florin Street Band
This is Ehlana and Ethan Proctor; live from the hidden home of the Magi of the Light – and May the Magi Force be with you!
