Life's a Stitch

The plans were made well in advance, and like many pandemic plans, they were cancelled. The two Alberta daughters, with partners and kids were scheduled to visit for the first Christmas together in our new house, but days ahead, health orders were issued. Nobody allowed in your home unless they lived there, no more walking outside with more than one other person, restaurant groups must all be from the same household… Our province's numbers weren't that bad, but modelling showed even the slight increases would grow into something unacceptable. And fines were implemented for offenders. 

We had to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas to get past the resentment of observing people in our area flouting the rules to be with family or politicians defying health orders to go on vacation. We are grateful to remain virusfree.

We successfully molded our holiday season into something different, yet satisfying including:

• a delicious take out dinner for two (see my last post for the menu)
• four Zoom sessions, two included B and S, still in Bali. We did Christmas Eve family Bingo, Christmas Day gift opening, where we opened the gifts intended for others and their's for us, and our traditional Boxing Day Julefrokost, the traditional Danish cold table meal. Each group had plates of the customary foods (fish, cheese, and meat) accompanied by shots of Akvavit. New Years Day we tried an online murder mystery, which I highly recommend (mysterytowns.com).
• My gift to C was an online Christmas concert of his favourite Vancouver men's choir, ChorLeoni, accompanied by homemade sugarfree eggnog.

It was liberating to be freed of Christmas cooking and shopping (everything was either ordered online or handmade). C took responsibility for the two children who have settled in permanent locations, with a promise to B for one in the future. He spent endless hours in his garage workshop making river tables for the girls:

In this unusual time we were even gifted with a rare snowfall. Although the palm trees at a condos across the street looked as if they were shivering in the cold:

Snow here is rare and sticks around for only a short period of time. It's one of the main reasons I love British Columbia. It made for a wintery white Christmas sort of feeling: