The rainy season has descended upon northern California. It's about time, too. November was mild, gorgeous and moisture-free, a repeat performance of beautiful October in these parts. Mid-December brought us temperatures of degrees in the high twenties that reminded me of mornings back in New Jersey. Frosty mornings, crunchy lawns, scraping ice off wind shields and temperatures rising to no higher than 50 degrees during the day felt quite chilly to me. After living in California for over 29 years my internal thermostat has changed radically. Fifty degrees in a New Jersey winter would be cause to drag tee shirts and shorts from summer storage--almost. I've become quite thin-skinned over the years. These days, I freeze to death while shopping at the local Safeway year round. Admittedly, it feels good when the temperature outside hovers around the 100 degrees mark but I digress.
Today is my husband's 55th birthday. This blows me away because he was about a month shy from turning 19 when we began our relationship. We're not doing anything terribly special to celebrate. A birthday two days after Christmas is not the best time and more often than not, my darling dear gets sick just in time for Christmas and his special day. This year is no exception. He's been in far worse shape in previous years, however, so relatively speaking, he's doing okay. It's been a soggy day outside and a cozy, lazy day within. We've been enjoying a nice fire, reading and recovering from the Christmas swirl of parties, merriment and lack of sleep. Miraculously, I got Christmas Day and the following two days off from work. My husband called in sick to his work today and wisely so. I took the Christmas tree apart in the afternoon because it was literally raining needles. For the first time in our lives, it crossed our minds--fleetingly--that an artificial tree might not be such a bad thing after all. Merely thinking such a thought is sacrilege in my house and it was only a fleeting thought but...
I prepared a birthday dinner (with husband's help because he couldn't stay away from the kitchen helping with dinner if his life depended upon it) of Cornish game hens, stuffing, gravy and asparagus. It all turned out beautifully and the truth of the matter is that my husband has evolved into a superior cook and I often think some great, deceased chef has taken over my husband's cooking abilities...yes, he's that good! Back in the days when we were young and carefree and never gave a thought to what kind of food we ingested, I always made a German chocolate cake from scratch for his birthday. Ah, how time alters that which we ate in a blissful, guilt-free state. This year I made him a sugar-free, trans fat free, cholesterol free pumpkin pie. Are we getting old, or what?! It was good though and one does what one must.
It's back to work for the both of us tomorrow morning as we wend our way towards the end of this year. I wonder what the new year will hold for us, our family and beautiful planet Earth in general? I can think of lots of wishes I'd like to see come true. It will be here soon enough and time will tell.
1 comment:
Sounds like the perfect day (except for the husband being sick. AND having to take down the tree so soon after Christmas!)
I finally broke down and got an artificial tree for the living room. That WAS our last bastion of real-tree-dom until this year. I have to say that the tree looks spectacutlar. Much better than any of the real trees we have had in the last several years. And I'm getting to the point where I just hate to kill anything for my own pleasure...cutting down a perfectly healthy, fresh tree was starting to make me too sad. (Talk about getting quirky in your old age...!) Happy birthday to the husband, and many happy returns of the day. Lisa :-]
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