Christmas sculpture (needles and sand) 2020 (mercifully) closes
“ … a doctor that did all of the medical school lab work via Zoom,” I explained to Nazy.
“Surgery via Zoom will not work..”
“.. especially if the doctor is using Cox for internet ‘serv ices’,” I concluded, remembering frequent service bre aks.
As we approach the shortest day of the year, it’s kind of paradoxical that the ‘year’ essentially only included January, February and a (very extended) M a r c h.
‘You exaggerate, Dan.”
“Me? exaggerate? How can you even think..”
“I definitely recall November, Dan. There was an election.”
“Right you are my dear. And I clearly remember that the loser was plainly identified.”
“You mean, of course, the sore loser was clearly identified to everyone but himself.”
“Actually, I mean the incompetent, inept, useless, clueless, responsibility-shunning, demagoguery-spouting, conspiracy-loving sore loser was unveiled and deselected.”
“Has anyone told him, Dan?”
“He doesn’t listen to anyone with a backbone, my dear.”
The good thing about 2020 is that
This year will be the last 2020 ever!
Although our family is separated for now, Darius, in Bellingham, is continuing family tradition. He went to a Christmas Tree Farm in the Great northwest and he chopped down his own, carefully selected tree.
Veracity aside: We chopped down a tree in New Hampshire. We had an expert chop down the tree we chose in Switzerland. We got a previously (way previously) chopped down tree in Holland. And we have gone the artificial route in Santa Barbara.
Historically, after we made our tree selection, I would be given the ‘simple’ installation task. Nazy became the task manager.
“What is the role of the task manager?” Asked a concerned reader.
“The task manager observes and complains that the tree is neither straight nor perpendicular to the floor.”
“Wouldn’t it have been wise to let the task manager choose the tree?”
“Do you actually think that any other option would have been possible? And, do you really believe that the tree selector will…”
“You’re on shaky ground, here,” Nazy interrupts.
In the end, of course, it doesn’t matter how the tree is adjusted, how much pine resin has accumulated in your beard and how tightly you’ve screwed the tree holder in place, there will always be an angle from which it is ‘not straight’.”
Accordingly, I outsourced tree standing duties while we were in Switzerland (see three meter tree at left) and the artificial tree we use in California is straight. But in Bellingham…
“… no matter what I did, Dad, Christiane said the tree wasn’t straight.”
“Tradition, Dar! Isn’t it great?”
Darius and his family, as well as Melika and her family both live close to the Pacific. (Darius actually is closest to the Puget Sound and the various associated bays.) Both live in places with well-behaved weather so that they can enjoy the sea almost year round. And they do:
It’s clear that the sun is setting on 2020 — and that a vaccine, a working vaccine, is on the horizon. But…
“… we have to be extra careful now that the end is in sight,” Nazy reminded me. “Most car accidents happen within 5 miles of your own house…”
“You mean like what you did to the driveway with the car?” I asked, bravely.
“I mean that when the trip is almost over, people get careless. That’s why such a high percentage of accidents happen close to your house.”
“Or it could be that a high percentage of driving happens close to the house. Ipso facto..”
“Just agree with me, Dan.” Nazy ‘suggested’.
“You are right, my dear.”
The challenge is tricky. You can be extremely careful and still get COVID. You can be reckless and not get COVID. You simply have to play the odds. I asked my doctor about the vaccine.
“Vaccines are the most important advance in medical science in the last 10,000 years, Dan.” Dr. Bernstein replied.
The grandchildren continue to be grand. Arrow loves playing with his trains and Azelle has found (Melika’s) boots made for walking.
We’ve installed holiday lights and look forward to Christmas.
And, finally, the first year we were in Holland, we went were living in a huge house on Prinsevinken Park in The Hague. The ‘drawing room’ had a very high ceiling so when we went to the outdoor Christmas Tree sales facility in the Maileveld, we wanted a ‘tall tree’. Unfortunately, we used the sky as an estimate of the height of the ceiling. I had saw much more than a meter of tree. As we soon discovered, the tree had been hacked out of the tundra — most likely in July. All the needles were gone by Christmas.
For last week's letter, please click here
Darius and Leandra