Boxing Day Morning
It's the morning after the day before. A very different Christmas than those that have come before – certainly when compared against the last decade at least. The children are no longer children.
The entire day was mercifully relaxed, and unfolded more or less as expected. There were no complaints about moving the opening of presents to later in the day to coincide with the arrival of extended family, and the walk to the pub for lunch was made in good spirits despite the rain.
We have gone out to eat on Christmas Day for the last several years. We did the math some time ago, and figured that the cost comes out remarkably close when you add together the various food and drink you might buy to feed a house full of people for the day. When you also factor in the hours you save preparing vegetables, cooking, and washing up, it becomes a no-brainer.
This year we visited the pub where our middle daughter works. The meal was wonderful, the serving staff were friendly and attentive, and we all ate too much. We can count the times we have been out for a meal on one hand in perhaps the last three years, so it was a rare treat.
Of course we all did COVID tests yesterday morning, and will test again today, and tomorrow. It's become a way of life. We had all had both vaccine injections and the booster shot. We only came into close contact with our server throughout. I wonder how we will look back on these times in years to come?
The clock has just ticked past 10:30am, and only myself and Miss 17 are up. She's watching whatever seventeen year old girls watch on television while wrapped up in a “snoodie”, and I'm holed up in the junk room writing this while listening to the “coffee shop jazz” playlist on Amazon music.
We seemed to get each other small, inexpensive, thoughtful presents this year. I asked my daughters for chocolate, and they fulfilled my wish. A number of books were requested and delivered between each of us. A couple of new board games were unwrapped.
It's been kind of lovely so far. Given that so many of us spend so much of the time going “flat out” – either working, going to college, writing essays, doing overtime, or helping with community projects, it's nice to slow down for a change.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Here's to a quiet, happy, and healthy start to the new year.