Hello Everyone! ‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the land, the Omicron variant was getting out of hand. First and foremost this week I want to wish all who celebrate it a very Merry Christmas (and a Happy Christmas to all of those outside of the U.S. who think “merry” is a funny way to say it). I was chatting with one of my traveling friends this week and we were discussing where we had each spent Christmas in the past. My list included Barcelona, Newcastle (Australia), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Japan, St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), Myrtle Beach, Key West, New York City, Los Angeles, New Hampshire and San Antonio. Some have been good, some not so good and one or two downright difficult. I’m very happy to be here at home in D.C. this year, off the road and not at work. Wherever you are this year, I hope the season finds you safe, warm and healthy. We will be sticking close to home over the weekend, cooking deliciously complicated meals together, laughing, listening to music and watching a few more Christmas movies. It will be somewhat low-key with just the three of us for Christmas and one of my mom’s friends joining us for Christmas Eve but that suits me just fine. It’s very good to be home.
This week has definitely put the Coronavirus and the Omicron variant front and center in the news and in my life. A very good friend of mine lost his 48 year old brother to Covid this week, reminding me in a personal way that this is all far from over. Mask mandates are back here in D.C. and hospitals across the country are filling up to dangerous levels. I’m sad to see that Michigan and Minnesota, both of which I obviously spent a lot of time in this year, are both hotspots right now and struggling - and that is coming not just from the news but from my friends on the ground there. I was very happy to see that Donald Trump got his booster this week and encouraged others to do so as well. I really wish other people would join him and realize that this isn’t a game and people are dying unnecessarily out there. The NHL has postponed its season and there have been many other cancellations as well. My friend Chris, who I was supposed to hang out with on Monday, came down with something and we decided to postpone out of an abundance of caution. The friends I was hanging out with over the weekend took a pre-holiday-travel home Covid test on Monday and both came up positive. They went for a clinical test and my folks and I tested at the Fire Station up the road and all came back negative which was a relief. I definitely feel better being vaccinated and boosted than I did at this time last year, but I’m starting to tuck back in a little bit as well. I’ll be keeping my eye on the news before I decide whether or not to set out across the country again in January. Because of my southern route with plans to get back to California and back to work next summer, it all seems very familiar to where I was in the beginning of 2019. I sincerely hope that this winter will pass easier than last year or the winter before. Please be safe out there and if you haven’t been vaccinated or boosted, please discuss it with a doctor and not a YouTube character.
I’ve spent my mornings this week at the gym, trying not to put on any holiday weight. My afternoons have been pretty quiet and restful, but I have been out and about in the evenings. Last Wednesday I went back to music night at my friends’ house to watch them jam out like we were still in high school. My buddy Joe brought some of his famous homemade eggnog which was a real hit and something I was looking forward to. The music was good and we all had a good time being together. Thursday night I went out for coffee with my friend Carolina and we had a nice walk around downtown Silver Spring. The outdoor ice rink was open which was fun to watch and we both enjoyed the evening. On Friday, my folks and I went to see the King’s Singers perform at the National Cathedral which was really a wonderful show. I don’t remember the last time I was in the Cathedral at night, and they did a really great job of singing some Christmas classics from around the world. Saturday evening, Carolina and I went to see the Akhmedova Ballet Academy do their version of the Nutcracker at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center. While it was clear that, like the Rockville Civic Ballet we saw the other week, they didn’t have any male dancers - they chose a different route by reworking the story to include strong women from history in those roles. While it was a little bit strange to see Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman and Amelia Earhart at the party, the dancers were really good and it was a strong performance. The whole ballet was shortened to just under an hour, but it was very well done. The second hour of the performance was more a dance recital for individual dancers and small groups but it was also really beautiful and I enjoyed it very much. On the ride home through Rock Creek Park, I spotted a 6 point deer and a pretty good sized coyote which was pretty cool in the middle of the city. On Sunday I headed over to my friends James and Kara’s house to hang out with them and my other good friend, Pete. The original plan was to watch the Washington football game, but it ended up being postponed until Tuesday so we just sat around and chatted and laughed a lot. After Pete went home, James and I wandered over to their British friends’ house down the street. After spending a good chunk of my life working with British tourists and for a British company, it warmed my heart to hear their accents and conversations. They were also really nice people and it was great to meet them and share in some holiday cheer.
This week has been spent preparing our menus for the weekend, gathering up our recipes and shopping for food. I think we have pretty much everything we need for some great meals for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and I’m really looking forward to cooking. It’s always a real pleasure to cook in my mother’s kitchen which has everything I need or want close at hand. It’s very different from cooking in my little kitchen in my van, that’s for sure. We’ve spent the evenings this week together, listening to Christmas music and watching some of our favorite Christmas movies. Tonight we are headed out to see the Winter Lights Drive in Seneca Creek State Park which should be really fun. We’re going to spend tomorrow afternoon in Old Town Alexandria and then come back downtown to see the National Christmas Tree and the Capitol Christmas Tree in the evening. And then it’s time for the main event to begin. As I mentioned at the top of this post, it’s nice to be home for it all this year.
And that’s about what’s been happening this week. I actually haven’t even turned on my computer all week which has been nice. I know I have plenty of things to catch up on, as I’ve mentioned the last few weeks, but I still have a couple of weeks left to get where I want to be before I take off. I’m not sure what the days after Christmas will bring, but I’m sure we’ll be busy doing something fun. You’ll just have to check back next week to find out. Have a wonderful week out there and a great Christmas weekend. From my family to yours, a very Merry Christmas. Thanks, as always, for reading.
-Mike