Christmas_Tree

I've worked in education since the 90s. December is one of my favorite months, particularly now that I am in higher ed. Our final exams were last week and the students are gone until the middle of January. The only ones left on campus are our contingent of international students on Davis scholarships, most of whom cannot afford to fly back to their country of origin for the holidays. In the IT department, the first part of the month is reserved for projects we can't do while school is in session. This year we are replacing wireless access points in a couple of buildings, which involves much climbing of ladders and talking on radios to make sure the new devices come online.

On the personal side, even though we are not religious, Wonder Woman and I still have a tree and decorations inside the house. My only contribution to that happening is carrying the boxes of supplies from under the house into the living room and then getting out of the way. She gets everything put up efficiently and quickly because that's the way she moves through life. She gets things accomplished while I am still deciding how to get started. Today I worked on a couple of my own projects while she did her thing while Christmas music filled our living room.

We, and by we, once again I mean she, buys all the Christmas gifts online. We are not the type of people to go bargain hunting in crowded stores with crowded parking lots. For a couple of weeks at the beginning of the month, we come home to what we call "papages," a word coined by our grandson for the boxes the man in the brown truck leaves on your porch. Then, in one marathon session, she wraps them all and puts them under the tree. My part is staying out of the way.

I enjoy some special foods during the season. I am partial to Clementines, the small, easy to peel tangerines and lots of salty country ham and southern style biscuits. Although I love the taste of eggnog, I avoid it because it reminds me too much of my drinking days, when I used to have it with bourbon at Christmas. My sobriety date is December 28, so the last days of my drinking career sadly happened during Christmas of 2008.

Our travel during the holidays is pre-determined and has changed little over the course of our marriage. On Christmas Eve, we gather at my in-laws, who live near the coast. They are of Italian heritage, so the big meal is lasagna. After we eat and exchange gifts that evening, Wonder Woman and I will drive another couple of hours up the coast to my mother's. She is a widow and without us would be alone. We will spend the night with her and visit some in the morning before making the drive across the state to my daughter's house.

We often take a getaway trip during the holidays, usually to the mountains. This fall, our favorite mountain towns were all extensively damaged by the flooding resulting from Hurricane Helene. The town of Asheville just started pumping potable water two weeks ago. As a result, this year we are traveling down to Savannah, Georgia to enjoy its delights. We thought about taking the train, but our recent Amtrak experiences have not been positive, so we are going to drive.
Whatever your December plans happen to be, I hope you get some time off and an opportunity to relax and to see your family if that brings you joy.

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