For the pleasure that you bring when you make that doorbell ring

[austin_dern]

Since it was the late afternoon, and we'd had the adventure of airplane travel stretched out over a Saturday night and Sunday day, we weren't going to do anything particularly special with my parents that first evening. They took us to their home, in an apartment complex, and pointed out some of the sights you could see from the airport to their new home, and things like the nature trail and the free-to-borrow bikes (offered us several times, although we never really had the time to ride).

From their balcony, which the cats like to sprawl out on when it's sunny and there are geckos to notice, my father pointed out stuff like the swimming pool and the communal grill that nobody uses in the winter when it's, like, in the 60s, and off in the distance the natural pond where the alligator and her baby are seen, though not by us. My mother sliced up cheese and crackers for us to snack on while waiting for the vegetarian shepherd's pie to finish baking and I noticed just how intensely the whole place smells of cat. bunny_hugger would've been miserable if she'd forgotten her allergy pills; as it was I was opening the bedroom window maybe more than the weather justified, because it was getting surprisingly chilly at night, and would get outright cold later on.

They hadn't decorated their apartment, because they were spending the week around Christmas away from home anyway, visiting my other brothers, so why bring a tree in only to have it die on them? And this is sensible enough, but they also hadn't decorated for Christmas 2013, on the sensible grounds they were cleaning out the house and didn't need to add stuff up to take down later either. I hope the logic of this doesn't imply they've stopped decorating for Christmas altogether, but I kind of expect they're going to find reasons to visit family and friends come December again.

Toward the evening my mother went to bed early, and bunny_hugger and my father and I sat up talking, quite a while, some about the holidays --- I found a channel on their cable box still broadcasting Christmas music, even though the cable box tried to foil my discovering any channels by switching the guide back to the channel that happened to be on --- and some about just what it's like living in the new place. He also offered us, repeatedly, the chance to watch stuff on Netflix or Amazon Prime or other streaming media choices he has. It's tempting and we should've gone for Three Men And A Baby (it's been fascinating us since bunny_hugger listened to a podcast review of just what the plot of the movie actually is), but who has the time for something like that anymore? Not us, that week, anyway.

Trivia: During the 1779-80 encampment at Morristown, New Jersey, George Washington's army suffered through severe cold, snow, food shortages, a smallpox epidemic, and a mutiny of Pennsylvania soliders (and one in Pompton from New Jersey soldiers). Source: New Jersey: A History of the Garden State, Editors Maxine N Lurie, Richard Veit.

Currently Reading: Powering Apollo: James E Webb of NASA, W Henry Lambright.

Comments

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

vegetarian shepherd's pie

I must express my doubts as to the popularity of sheepherding as a profession for vegetarians.

and the communal grill that nobody uses in the winter when it's, like, in the 60s

Without looking, I'll guess this is Florida? Or maybe the Californian interior, but that seems a much less popular destination. (Forgive me for loving the dusting of snow we got today. ^_^ Sadly, it didn't last long on the ground, but it was a bit of a special treat to open the curtains to the sight of fluffy snow falling)

[reads tag D'oh!]

I do miss a full tree, I admit. Here, there isn't really the space, and I only arrived at my mother's place on the 23rd. I could've tried, had I remembered, but not to worry - the important part is being in the right place and with the right people. Anything else is a bonus.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, sheep can be useful to have around even if you aren't figuring on eating them. Anyway we had a lot to eat, both that first night and for a couple lunches afterward.

I know that the important thing is being around loved ones for the holiday, but I do feel like something's lost in not decorating at all. Part of what makes the season special is that it is visually distinctive and separate from the norm.