Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
Now we are into traditional Christmases, or as traditional as we will have this year. (See past years.)
Early mornings are foggy, a Fresno tradition I suppose. As long as I can safely make it to the Starbucks parking lot, I'm OK with soft dawns. My writing sessions give me some purpose for waking up at 5:00 and remind me of a life of working and leaving home before the rest of the house was awake. In hindsight, I should have stuck around for the family meal.
Back home, I tried a bit of photography, nothing significant, just a few practice shots to keep up the muscle memory. I looked around the living room to see what might be worth remembering a few years from now. Ordinary things. Remember to look around. Remember to remember.
Next up was practice with my "bird lens", a four-pound chunk of glass I had not used in a few years. After Christmas, I plan to shoot some ducks and geese and cranes and herons out in the Central Valley wetlands and I did not even remember how to focus the gear. I think I have become too dependent on my iPhone! The garden flowers and gnome stood in for the more exotic subjects we hope to capture in a few days. I'm not sure a half-hour is enough practice time, but it's a start.
Focus test. Can you read the letters?
Long and cropped. Focus seemed OK.
And a blossom and cactus
because that's what gardens feature.
This being the 23rd, the main event was a family dinner in honor of Marianne's Mamo on her birthday. Marianne spent almost all day shopping, setting tables, prepping, and cooking. I volunteered to help, but preparing a nice meal is really her thing, one that she enjoys, despite the tiring effort.
We had invited sister Katinka, her husband Ruben, her son Henry, and his son Zaiden, filling our dining room table for the first time in a year or two. The lamb was good, its tomato-based sauce excellent, green beans healthy, and roasted brussel sprouts were a real hit with our youngest guest. (Who would have predicted this last?) Katinka also provided perfect little fruit tarts to finish it all off.
We ended the Christmas traditions with opening a few presents, enough to remind me that it was a gift to have a youngster with us. Christmas needs kids.
The day before Christmas started out with a nice sunrise. Neighbor Steve captured it from his front porch and I saw it from Starbucks's parking lot. Everyone has their own morning place.
Most of the rest of the day was quiet recovery from the dinner party the day before.
We were lucky enough to have a social event for Christmas Eve. We had arranged to dine with Aliz and Laura, a pair of Fresno State student-athletes, courtesy of swim-coach Jean. They are from Hungary and were not going to be able to run home for the holidays. Marianne offered them a choice of simple Hungarian fare at our house or Chinese dinner out. Laura immediately chose Chinese, saying she'd "never had Chinese food before."
The place we chose was very busy, as many others had also decided not to cook on Christmas Eve. The slow service gave us a chance to get acquainted with our young guests and that was just a delight. Talking with young people who have goals and plans was a real break from our more senior conversations that focus on memories and medicine. Laura ate her first Chinese meal all with chop sticks, demonstrating an athlete's muscle skills and perseverance.
Afterwards, we went across the parking lot to an ice cream store. Swimmers in training have no problem with a few more calories and Marianne and I had to join in, just to be hospitable.
I suppose Christmas Eve with little children is best, but young Hungarian women were special for us too.
Stay tuned for the rest of our Christmas - New Years week, starting with a visit to the Merced National Wildlife Center.
John and Marianne