Oran Finn Crook

The Holidays

Although I feared that this Christmas season might be too painful to be enjoyable, I managed to enjoy myself, to live with the pain and go forward with the holidays.

The Sunday evening before Christmas we went to an evening prayer service - vespers - at the local Orthodox church; an hour of candles, incense, and prayers sang by the choir, all very beautiful and spiritual. 

Monday morning December 24th Nonnie went to church while I went shopping and wrapped presents.  That evening, Christmas eve, we ate dinner at Season’s, a local restaurant.  The food was good, but the room was too ‘industrial’, not decorated enough.

On Christmas we spent the day with Colin, Sarah, Oran, and their big puppy Ono at their house.  We ate breakfast, opened presents, walked, slept, and ate dinner - herring salad, caviar, eggplant ikra, then duck with spaetzle, wild rice, lingonberries, red cabbage, spinach casserole, then a bush de noel with coffee.  All this washed down with two bottles of Pinot Noir from Oregon that we had saved for this occasion.

On Boxing Day we went back to Colin and Sarah’s house for left overs, and to encourage Oran to open more presents.  Since he is the only grandchild on both sides he got many gifts, but at twenty months he just doesn’t have the concept of presents, or of ownership, entitlement, or deferred gratification.  

It’s too bad that in the US Christmas ends at midnight on December 25th.  In Europe the 26th, Boxing Day, is also a holiday, and Christmas stretches out to the New Year.  I like observing the Russian Orthodox old calendar dates - Christmas on January 8th and New Years Day on January 15th.  It is so much more enjoyable, the slow progression of holidays, less intense, more enduring.

Now we are starting to think about our next trip, to Hong Kong for two weeks leaving tomorrow, December 31st.  Nonnie grew up there so for her it is a bit like going home -for me it remains very exotic.  I am flying on to Bangkok on January 14th but Nonnie will fly back to Albuquerque.  Colin has accepted a job in Seattle starting in February so Nonnie will help them with the move when they find a new home there - and with renting out their home here.  We will be moving too, probably, in May when our lease is up, to be near our only grandchild.

Xmas card