No more gifts to ponder, buy, make, wrap. No more cookies to bake, just a few getting stale on the countertop. Needles are falling off the tree, scraps of wrapping paper litter the floor, the recycling bin is full of bottles. The snow is melting into gritty gray street soup which splatters the car. I delivered Jessica to Albany Airport early this morning, and the house feels so empty; I’m glad there’s a party to go to tonight to cheer me up.
But it was a lovely Christmas. Alex and Faith came over for the afternoon and evening, Jessica was here for over a week, and her boyfriend, Bill, for a few days, leaving on the 23rd. Steve dropped by for a bloody mary and gave me a miniature painting he’d done. We cooked comfort foods for dinner and had a great time exclaiming over our gifts to one another…we had a more modest holiday than in some years because none of us is feeling wealthy, but the gifts were sweet and thoughtful and no one felt deprived in the least. It was the first Christmas without my ex (another Bill) and his wife Pam, who are stuck in Bermuda waiting for a sail so they can continue their trip to St. Thomas (their original sail was destroyed in a storm) and they were missed. The pre-Christmas snow storms luckily didn’t hamper anyone’s travel plans, and we enjoyed the beauty of all the white stuff–and my new-used Subaru performed admirably on the snowy roads.
So that’s about it…I’m trying to shift gears, get back into my solo life and plan some art projects. And yeah, feeling lonely. Here are some pictures from our holiday…
Downtown Saugerties, Dec. 21, panorama shot
Jessica, Bill and Marley
Bill, Alex, Faith and Jessica at Pump Audio
Tags: christmas, cookies, family, food, gifts, holidays, kids, saugerties, snow, tree, vacation
Drawing Flies 
December 28, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Yes, I know the feeling of the empty house…..how lonely in a way it will be…but in my case, it has been 5 weeks full of noise, problems, joy, illness..
I think they will be back in the summer, so I will take the time for me to heal for the next visitation!
Let’s get together to ease the loneliness and make some art or have some fun.
love ya, patti o
December 29, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Thanks for hosting such a lovely day! Give us a call if things get too quiet, there’s plenty of noise over here, what with the new trampoline and all… 🙂
January 2, 2009 at 8:41 am
Go check out that trampoline! 🙂
Sounds like it was a nice Christmas with family.