Debster822's Blog

TGIF.

My business partner was emailed an offer one of our listings on Thursday. We arranged to meet our sellers on Friday morning. We reviewed the offer and formulated a counter, which we emailed to the buyer’s agent by 10:30; we’re still waiting to hear if he received it. I left him a voice message so he knows to check his email.

Missed a bike ride, run and dog walk this afternoon. I regret that yet I don’t: I was handling business, working on a business plan, and making appointments to show homes on Sunday.

I’m very happy to call it a day.

After 2-½ days our friend from Toronto left balmy NorCal for the wintery grasp of Canada. She enjoyed the spring-like conditions and was impressed by the almond orchards, with their delicately-colored blossoms and sweet, honey-like fragrance. When seen from a distance the orchards look as though they’ve been snowed upon with the palest pink snow. When the blossoms fall, that palest pink snow is on the ground. They, and the MagnoliaX soulangiana, are the first trees to flower. They are quickly followed by the Callery pears and Purple Pony Plums, both non-fruiting varieties. The Western redbuds (Cercis occidentals) are beginning to bud. I expect the cherries and apricots to follow. Judging from the bud-swell on our Babcock peach tree, that will be in full flower soon, as well.

We rode 3 times in 2 days: Tuesday afternoon we rode on the flats, through orchards, so she could get the full almond effect. Wednesday morning we met with 3 friends with whom we’ve ridden for years, and still do so, and the 6 of us did an orchard loop north and west of what we did Tuesday. It wasn’t fast; it was social and fun. We conversed among ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed that aspect.

Naturally we stopped at Steady Eddy’s and had coffee and more conversation (Chris & I shared an almond/pear bar). We took the direct way home; our friends took the long way.

Thanks to the tailwind we boogied back home; J & I made almond butter and her homemade orange marmalade (using our oranges and lemons we gleaned from a neighbor’s encroaching tree) on the Iraqi wheat berry bread I made Sunday. Talk about the #nom!

We mounted the bike racks on his Outback, loaded everything we needed, and drove to the Subaru dealer so his Outback could get its scheduled maintenance while we did the Gordon Valley Loop. The weather was just right for summer riding (I left my knee warmers on; my knees like to be warm), and J exalted in it. She loved the scenery and the rollers; a couple of climbs tested her but we all stuck together and had a blast. 47 miles and we all loved it.

Now, please bring more rain and snow, because as much as I love this balmy weather, I know we need the rain and would gladly ride the trainer if only the weather would dump rain on us.

So after 3 guests in 4 weeks, so much fun, I’m feeling a tad empty that they came, we visited/rode bikes/hung out/ ate out, and now they’re gone. Even the dogs were affected.  The time our friends were here was precious; we’re so happy they were here. We wish they lived closer so their visits were occurrences, not events. OTOH, we have destinations.

Time to bring out the calendar and schedule some visits.

…that I couldn’t complete my Christmas dinner toast. I was so happy to have my family and my son’s lovely girlfriend with us for yet another Christmas, that when it was my turn to offer a toast, all I could do was stammer a few words and wipe the tears as we all clincked our glasses. Lately I’ve attributed some of my “see a sad picture, weep a little” to hormones, but Christmas was all emotion. To have us all together, with a +1 (we’ve done this before but it didn’t stick; he wasn’t worthy of our daughter), was nearly more than my heart could stand. I redefined what “fulfilled” means to me.

While Chris and I, as parents and establishers of the traditions we currently hold dear and continue (my mother’s Italian sausage Christmas Eve dish we will prepare, both vegan and carnivore-style I’ll cook until I can’t cook anymore), we’re open to what our progeny bring to the celebrations, and add to the traditions. We all believe in the magic that we call Christmas…I prefer to believe that we all are invested in the magic of family, tradition, and love of what we have, who we are, and who we are to be. Traditions can be tweaked, and thus are fluid. I love that I can share my family’s Christmas Eve tradition, and add the family’s take on other traditions around the holidays.

As for New Year’s Day traditions: I made a black-eye pea dish with Iranian wheat berries, kale, and other ingredients. I had a recipe and used it as a guideline . It was delicious, and I was happy to make a tasty dish that honored Chris’s roots, as well as my own “let’s green it up” vibe.

Happy New Year, and thanks for reading.

Finding the Sun in the Shortest Days of the Year.

We cut our tree Saturday. We’ve been cutting our own trees 13 of the last 16 years. uiWe support a local business, get a fresh tree, and get a different tree than what they send from up north. We chose a Leyland Cypress (a repeat favorite) as it doesn’t drop needles (they’re compressed, unlike a fir), it makes the house smell wonderful as long as we don’t cook bacon, and lasts several weeks indoors. And we don’t mind hiking around, cutting, and hauling the tree around. That’s what you do when you cut your own.

We left it netted over night, and brought it inside on Sunday. The kids who netted it used the too-small chute, and several branches were broken, leaving a gap about ⅔ the way around the tree. It looks wonky, but not too bad. We let it sit Sunday indoors, in water, so the branches would relax.

While I was at work on Monday, Chris put the lights up, and began hanging decorations. I helped him finish the task, with the exception of our kids’ favorite ornaments, which they’ll hang when they arrive. The tree is 7-½’ tall, and many of our ornaments are lost in it. I mentioned rebelling and buying new, big, fancy ornaments, and was met with The Look. Heh.  And I was pretty serious. This tall, angular tree needs some big, attitudinous decorations.

That’s when Chris, as he was hanging Korean-made ornaments, observed that many Christmas trees have a theme, and  over the years he’s decided that ours is tradition. At first I thought he meant the tradition we created in Okpo, ROK, 12/83, and then I realized, as we continued to adorn the tree, that the tradition included my late mother’s fragile, 50 yr. old colored glass bulbs that we hung on our (fake) trees in the 60’s, that she inherited from her mother; a Texas Capital ornament given to us by a friend, etc.  Our kids’ “baby’s first Christmas” balls with Smurfs and My Little Ponys. Their first clothespin reindeer. The rat from when our son danced in “The Nutcracker” in Santa Barbara, and  more cool stuff. The angel topper I found at Mervyn’s in San Luis Obispo in 1988, that we still use. Everything we hang on the tree has a story, which in the retelling as we admire & hang the ornament, evokes a memory (or 3) that make the season alive. The more you speak to history, the more relevant it becomes. And when you speak of those who’ve passed, the more you keep them alive and share their spirit.

So when we talk about these traditions and the stories that surround them, the memories come alive, the people who mattered and are no longer with us come alive, and we enjoy the memories. I hope that the significants, the reason why those people and those memories matter, is kept alive. Talking about people who have passed before your time, sharing the stories, bring them to life, and share with future generations. Let’s help keep those folks’ stories alive. Tell them. The things you do that you don’t mean anything actually matter.Love what those traditions, what that history, means to you, and keep adding on to it.

There is no wrong way to do Christmas. All the celebrations, Christian, Pagan, Jewish, Non-Denominational, et al,have huge significance. Celebrate and experience joy.