I just checked the thermometer in our backyard.
It reads 90 degrees (in the shade). I hope Santa has a summer outfit. Just put
the turkey in the oven, though I’m tempted to try sun-baking it. The CNN
weather report informs me that a thunder storm is due in the San Francisco
area, and our future daughter-in-law and our son report that it’s sleeting in
New Jersey.
What I miss about Christmas here in Chile
is the smell of live fir or pine trees, a nip in the air and a fire in the
fireplace. Fires were banned years ago in Santiago due to the smog. Besides, who
wants a fire in this heat?
What is Christmas without the smell of
cookies in the oven? My two youngest grandkids came last week to help decorate
the tree (artificial) and we baked cookies. The thirteen-year-old twins
preferred going to the mall. Yesterday I made more cookies as well as the
family recipe for Scottish shortbread. Christmas music on ITunes created a
festive atmosphere in the kitchen.
I was up early this morning to get to a
French bakery to buy their unbelievable croissants. Then to the supermarket
which I expected to be empty at that time. Everyone one else had the same idea.
We’ll celebrate at a nephew’s house tonight
with his three young kids, plus sisters- and brother-in-law, and a couple of
nieces and their children. It will be bedlam as the children rip open their
gifts. Years ago I tried to instill some calm into this process, suggesting
that “Santa” pass out only one gift at a time. It starts out well but the pace
and noise and excitement build into a crescendo. Tomorrow our eldest son and
wife and our four grandchildren will come for “brunch”. No doubt, our
four-year-old grandson will bring his best new toy. I suspect that parked under
many a Christmas tree (though not ours) will be an electric scooter – the latest
rage here, propelling indignant pedestrians into a rage.
At the end of another year, I’m filled
with mixed feelings and nostalgia. I ponder upon the loved ones who are no
longer here. I feel proud of my accomplishments and satisfactions. Normally, I
like watching the year’s summary on television, though this year has been a
tough one world-wide. I shake my head in despair at U.S. politics and sincerely
pray that the American people will come to their senses. To banish this black
cloud of pessimism I work to list the good things in life: family, dear friends,
old and new, the beauty of the Nutcracker Suite, birdsong, the fragrance of a redwood
forest, the panorama of the Andes from my window ….
A list without end.
