Although it was chilly, foggy, and misty yesterday, Bill and I decided to go to the Dorfplatz and check out the 2025 Advent Market. Every year, our little village of Breckenheim has an Advent Market to raise funds for clubs. It’s just for a night, and different clubs sell food and crafts. Last night, they had a guy with a “barrel organ” who was playing old songs and hymns. He didn’t have a monkey– just a little elf that one finds in Germany and France at this time of year.
We didn’t stay long… I just wanted to get some photos and enjoy some Gluhwein. They had two kinds– red wine and rose. The rose was better than the red, in my opinion. It was very fruity! I think they had a church service, too, but we didn’t stick around for that. We did go to it last year, and it was very nice, though all in German. I found the pew a bit uncomfortable to sit on. It wasn’t quite deep enough for my ass. ðŸ¤
We saw one of our American neighbors and caught up with her. But then she wandered away, and the smell of raclette was overpowering. So we went home to enjoy the evening before Bill’s journey back to the United States for the upcoming work week. He’ll be back early next Sunday morning, God willing. On our way back to our house, we ran into two of our next door neighbors, to include our landlady, who is always so pleasant and friendly!
Anyway, we were once again reminded of how much we have enjoyed the last seven years in Breckenheim. This is the place we’ve spent the most years of our marriage so far. We have been warmly welcomed here. Once again, I’m reminded that it was a good decision to leave Jettingen for this place. Almost everything is better here. The only things I miss about our old house are the pretty views and the proximity to the Black Forest. But even those things aren’t so far away… and we get treated with basic decency, respect, and a spirit of welcome. We are so grateful for that!
Christmas is now officially here. I think Germany is the best place to be at this time of year! And every time there’s a festival and we’re welcomed by our neighbors, I’m reminded of how people in my homeland are treating newcomers, visitors, and immigrants. It makes me sad, but it also fills me with gratitude that I’m not being treated that way in this country. At least not yet. 🤔
Wednesday morning, we got up for breakfast, listened to more strange 80s hits set to Bossa Nova, and I met a couple of Bill’s colleagues, who were also staying at the Hilton Istanbul Maslak. Other than the weird music, breakfast was unremarkable. Once again, I went back to bed afterwards.
When I woke up, I was determined to finish reading a book I’d been working on for awhile, so I could write a book review. That’s precisely what I did. It took up enough time that I didn’t need to visit the spa again. 😉 In the afternoon, I went down to the “lounge” and hung out, to give the housekeepers a chance to clean the room. I don’t usually have lunch when I accompany Bill on his business trips, because I don’t enjoy eating in restaurants alone. I wasn’t too keen on eating at the hotel’s restauant, Zaxi, nor did I want to wander alone around Maslak looking for a kebab.
The lounge is adjacent to the lobby bar and the lobby itself, so there was some activity there. A couple of groups were having what appeared to be business meetings. I busied myself by beginning a new book, playing computer games, and watching Bloomberg News in Turkish. After a couple of hours, I went back to the room, which wasn’t yet made up. I spent another hour in the room, and then went back to the lounge.
I sent Bill a private message on Facebook to let him know that was where I’d be. Soon enough, he finished work and found me there, staving off hunger by eating some of the mixed nuts I’d pilfered from the lobby bar the night previous. Let’s hear it for carrying a Ziploc bag in one’s purse. 😉 It spared me (and Bill) from grumpiness! Bill told me the room was, by then, serviced.
Bill said he wanted to see if we could find a “beer bar” that was supposedly near the hotel. I was okay with that, so we ventured out of the hotel and headed for the bar. I immediately noticed that the neighborhood we were in was very congested with people, hilly, and had roads that were not in very good condition. The sidewalks were crowded with people just getting off work and trying to get their cars out of parking lots that were “dolu” (full). It was pretty nervewracking. Bill kept saying that he thought Yerevan was busy, but Istanbul had it all over Yerevan!
As we started walking down a steep hill, it occurred to me that we would have to walk back up, and if we were going to be drinking beer, we wouldn’t be totally sober. And… it would be dark outside. My knees, hips, and thighs were already protesting the hill going down. I didn’t want to think about walking back up that hill in the dark, especially given all the potholes. Below are some photos from the area near the hotel.
My moody look.
I had noticed a restaurant that gave off a nice aroma as we passed it. I suggested that we go there. Bill said they probably wouldn’t have beer. I said, “so what”– there’s beer in the hotel. So we walked back the way we came, and went to the restaurant, which was called Kebapçı Kazım Maslak. A man who was sitting outside near the “patio” area warmly welcomed us to the nearly empty restaurant.
A waiter greeted us in English, and directed us to use our phones to access the menu. Unfortunately, the eSim I purchased for Turkey wasn’t working properly, and even when I did manage to get to the menu, the selections weren’t opening for me. It took us awhile to choose what we wanted, because we had to use Google to figure out what they had.
I ended up getting a grilled chicken kebab dish, while Bill had minced lamb. Both dishes came with a trip to the salad bar, and as Bill suspected, they only had soft drinks, juices, teas, coffee, and water. There was no booze. Fair enough. I had a Pepsi and Bill had iced tea.
Both dishes were great. I didn’t try the pepper that came with it, but Bill said it was very HOT!A little treat at the end. I really should drink more tea. A successful stop!
I really enjoyed the grilled chicken kebab, which came with pita, a yogurt dip, and a mildly spicy red pepper sauce. Bill also really liked his lamb dish. While we were eating, the local mosque issued a call to prayer over a loudspeaker. We noticed they turned off the Turkish music in the restaurant, although the people in the restaurant didn’t seem to stop what they were doing. When the call to prayer was over, they turned the music back on, and things got back to normal. After we finished, the waiter brought out hot tea and two little cakes with a sweet sesame sauce. It was a nice way to end our first Turkish restaurant meal together. The tea and the cakes seemed to come with the meal, as they weren’t on the bill.
After we ate, we walked back to the hotel. Sure enough, it was dark outside, although the area was lit up by the lights from the skyscrapers and various businesses. There was a lot of light pollution to go with other pollution. I was really glad we hadn’t gone to the beer bar, as the kebab restaurant was a treat, and I didn’t risk breaking my ass trying to climb a hill on a busy street in unfamiliar surroundings. I kind of wish we’d left the hotel for dinner on Tuesday night, too.
We stopped by the hotel bar for a couple of beers. Bill tried his first Efes, which I used to drink a lot of in cans back in Armenia. Efes is Turkish beer, and back in the 90s, it reminded me a little of Milwaukee’s Best. Fortunately, besides Efes and Bomante (which I prefer over Efes), the hotel also had Czechvar (Czech Budweiser), which is NOT the same as American Budweiser. They served it in an American Budweiser glass, though. I noticed they also started decorating the hotel for Christmas!
The hotel lobby bar.
While we were enjoying our nightcaps, we watched a man with a backpack being questioned by the police in the lobby. At one point, two young Turkish guys were escorted out of the Hilton, though they weren’t in handcuffs. The guy with the backpack had sat in a chair near us, when there were plenty of other places he could have been sitting.
Bill wondered if maybe he was collecting intel, as sometimes the business hotels in certain countries are rife with people from Russia or other countries, hanging around Americans, hoping to score some privileged information. But, if that guy was looking for intel from us, he was probably pretty disappointed. We didn’t talk about anything that would have interested a Russian (or Turkish) spy. 😉
We also saw a beautiful young Turkish woman in a sparkly wedding dress with an “entourage” of sorts. It looked like her man walked way ahead of her, while a couple of people helped her with her gorgeous dress. I think they’d come to the hotel for pictures. Imagine going to the Hilton Istanbul Maslak for that purpose! It is a lovely hotel, but I wouldn’t say it’s that grand! Downtown Istanbul has fancier hotels.
Speaking of which, Thursday was our big day in downtown Istanbul, so I’ll write about that in the next post. Stay tuned!
A few days ago, Bill asked me what I’d like him to cook for Thanksgiving. Since it’s just the two of us, we don’t often want to do a big Thanksgiving meal. It takes us forever to eat all of the food, and we lack both the storage facilities and large oven to cook a whole turkey.
Although Bill and I both like to cook, I thought about what cooking a large meal would entail, and I said, “Why don’t we just go out to eat?” Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday in Germany, so this was a perfectly reasonable suggestion. Bill agreed, and booked us a table at Die Scheuer, a restaurant in the nearby town of Hofheim am Taunus. We had eaten at this fabulous place just once before, because it’s often packed. After yesterday’s lunch, I can see why. The restaurant itself is fairly small and cozy, and the food and service are both very good.
Bill and I seemed to amuse an older German couple who sat near us and heard us speaking English. Who knows what they were thinking? But they were very friendly and polite, and wished us a good appetite as we enjoyed starters and main courses. I would have been up for dessert, but we were the last ones there at the end of the lunch service. They let out a couple of very sweet, friendly dogs while we finished our wine. And then we decided to just stop by the little Christmas food kiosk “village” near the Chinon Center (a mall where we usually park).
As for what we ate… I started with fried scallops with pumpkin puree. Bill had a spring roll made with goose. Then for our mains, I had Viennese fried chicken with homemade fries and lime Schmand. Bill had smoked duck with red cabbage and a dumpling. I was originally going to have the duck myself, but then I saw the chicken and decided it would probably please me more. I was right, although Bill loved the duck dish! I would have been pleased with it, too. Our wine was Kunstler Spätburgunder– pinot noir– which went very well with both dishes. The chicken was served extremely hot, and was moist and crispy. I found myself wishing I was better at frying chicken… but then, that’s a food I’d do well to eat less of.
It would have been nice to have had dessert, but at least we had beautiful weather, and it made walking to the temporary ice skating rink a real pleasure. We decided to share some red Glühwein (German mulled wine) while we watched people be festive.
After we got home, we decided to go down to the weekly market to see if there was any food there we wanted to buy. It was rather lightly populated yesterday, as there weren’t many vendors. But we did enjoy some wine and I got a photo of the Christmas tree they put up every year. I believe this weekend, there will also be a one night Advent Market. That’s always a fun event in Breckenheim. Christmas is always magical in Germany!
In spite of my gloomy feelings about the state of the world, I couldn’t help but enjoy Thanksgiving yesterday. It’s always a blessing to be with Bill. We had a very a peaceful, pleasant, lovely Thanksgiving. I hope we can visit Die Scheuer again. What a great restaurant! Next time, we’ll get there earlier.
Here’s a quick photo dump of some scenes around my neighborhood this week. It’s been bitterly cold, so Noyzi and I didn’t take a walk on Tuesday, even though the sun was shining. It was just too cold and windy for me and my old bones. However, we did go out yesterday, because the wind had stopped. I took a few photos…
It’s time for everyone to get rid of their Christmas trees. I have never had to do this myself, because I have never had a “real” Christmas tree. My mom was a “no fuss” type, when it came to our personal Christmas decorations. We always had a fake Christmas tree, and as soon as I was old enough, it was my job to put it up and decorate it. I used to enjoy doing that. 
We didn’t even have stockings for most of my growing up years. I remember having them when I was very young, but they were made of felt and sized according to family rank. As the “baby” of the family, I kind of got screwed. My stocking was the smallest. I don’t remember my mom ever filling it, anyway. Ironically, she knitted stockings for Bill and me when we got married! I put them out every year, although we don’t always fill them. My stocking got damaged by Zane, the wonder beagle, when he was still basically a puppy.
Anyway, because I never had a real Christmas tree, I wouldn’t know how to take care of one. So we have fake trees. But our neighbors don’t. Behold…
People have dumped their trees in the Dorfplatz.It’s freezing cold!I would hate to fall in the creek.Cat was watching us.Forsythias are showing up…It’s a little early.Kind of sad… how long did that tree grow before it was chopped down for a couple of weeks in someone’s living room?
I’m glad Christmas is over, although this time of year is pretty bleak, and Christmas decorations at least make things look festive. We have had some rare sunshine this week, though, which is nice. And the backyard is frozen, which makes picking up Noyzi’s poop easier.
We’re still deciding about exactly where we’re going when Bill’s mom comes here next month. I’m half tempted to cancel our tentative plans to go to Bamberg and nearby cities, and just go somewhere sunny and warm. But we’ll have sunny and hot weather before we know it, so we might as well stick to Germany. I wish we were going somewhere for MLK weekend, but Bill has been working in Bavaria all week, and we never got a chance to plan anything. He will be home tonight, though, and says he’s taking tomorrow off. Maybe we can go have lunch or something. I feel like I haven’t left the neighborhood in weeks.
This is kind of a boring post. I used to write more interesting stuff, but I feel like I get diminishing returns lately. Maybe I’ll be more motivated later. Nine years in Germany causes the novelty of being here to wear off somewhat. It’s actually kind of bizarre. Germany feels almost as familiar as home, while the USA is becoming a place I no longer recognize, nor do I feel welcome there. And yet, I don’t speak German worth a damn.
SIGH… maybe that should be a New Year’s resolution.
Featured photo is of the only trees around us now…
This morning, Bill and I were roused out of bed by Noyzi, the Kosovar wonder pup. We fed him, ate breakfast, and took down all the Christmas decorations. It took a couple of hours to get everything taken down and packed away until next year. I took the opportunity to run the vacuum in the basement, which I rarely do. Bill’s mom is coming to visit us in early February, and the basement is where our guest room is. 
Because Bill’s mom is coming to Germany to see us, we’re thinking about taking a short trip during her visit. This is something we usually do when she visits. In December 2017, we went to Berlin with her. In January 2020, we took her to Alsace, in France. When she visited us in the summer of 2009, we took her to Oberstaufen, a mountain resort area in Bavaria, where we proceeded to take a day trip to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, which eventually turned into an overnight odyssey when we got trapped in Italy.
I have a few places in mind for this year’s trip. One place I would like to visit is Bamberg, which is a really cool looking beer town in Bavaria. I’d also like to go to Freiburg, which is a city near the borders with France and Switzerland. Garmisch-Partenkirchen is also a good bet, as it’s a beautiful Alpine town with lots to do. On the other hand, we like to get out of Germany when we can. 
I found this somewhere on the Internet… if it’s yours and you want me to remove it, drop me a comment.
Bill is grocery shopping right now, because he has to leave town on business tomorrow. When he gets back, we’ll probably make a decision about where we’ll go, if we can book Noyzi at the Hundepension. I doubt it’ll be a problem, since it won’t be a holiday week. I’d be all for taking him with us, but he takes up the whole back end of the car, and we’ll need that space for luggage. Besides, Noyzi loves going to the Hundepension. It’s a chance for him to play with other dogs. This will probably be his last time going there alone, since we’re planning to take in one of his Kosovar buddies from back in the day in March or so… 
My German friend says we should save Freiburg for the spring or summer. She’s from Frieburg, so her advice is probably spot on. We’ll probably end up going to Bamberg… but I need to think about it some more. This is a good opportunity to see another German town we’ve been meaning to see since 2014 or so… but it’s also a good chance to visit somewhere else. We’ll see. Hopefully, COVID won’t mess anything up.  I have heard that cases are on the rise.
Time to haul out the champagne bucket again… Or maybe we’ll just stay here and do day trips. 
It was extremely cold yesterday, and the skies were gunmetal grey. We decided to go down to the Adventmarkt for some Gluhwein anyway, because this is a one night affair in our village. It’s been some time since we last went to a wine stand. We’ve been doing some travel, and the weather hasn’t been agreeable… and, well, a lot of times, I just don’t feel like getting dressed and walking down the hill. Not when we can stay home and drink our own wine, speak English, and listen to music.
But, in spite of my occasional laziness, I seldom regret going to the wine stands and other events, when I do manage to get dressed and make the effort. We do know a few people in town, and there’s always something to see. People are very social and friendly, and it reminds me of how much we like Breckenheim. It really is a nice little town. The mood is very different from what we experienced in the Stuttgart area.
Last night, I put on a sweater we bought in Ireland in 2016, when we were there for our 14th wedding anniversary. I seldom get a chance to wear the sweater, because it’s seldom cold enough to justify it. It was in the mid 20s (Fahrenheit) last night. I also wore my Irish flat cap, which I usually only wear when it’s very cold. I don’t look quite as cute in the cap as Bill does, but I think I can pull off the look somewhat. I didn’t bother with makeup, because everyone in our town has already seen me looking like crap while I walk Noyzi.
Noyzi was sorry he didn’t get to come with us to the market, but we figured it would be too busy for him. And, as the event was very well attended last night, I think we were right not to take him. We didn’t stay long, anyway… just long enough for some mulled wine and photos. Have a look!
We have sun and cold temperatures today. I don’t know if we’ll go to the market in Wiesbaden today… I know Bill wants to pick up a couple of things at the market, but again, it comes down to whether or not I can be arsed to put on a bra. As I wrote yesterday, we’ll see…
and the sky is… actually sunny right now. For once, it’s not cloudy and gray outside, but I fear that will change in a few hours, when it starts snowing again.
We had snow in the wee hours of the morning, and sadly, the other crepe myrtle in our backyard was a casualty. Bill and I slept in, enjoying the ability to snooze through the dark hours of the morning. I got up to let Noyzi out, and beheld this sight…
We had two myrtle trees in our backyard. One of them mysteriously died a couple of years ago and we basically cut it down ourselves. The other held on for a bit longer, but was looking somewhat peaked this year. I noticed it wasn’t handling the very light snow very well. We’ve also had lots of rain lately, so the ground is very soggy and messy. I guess the snow that fell early this morning was too much for it. Bill was up at about 3am, letting the dogs out for a nocturnal whiz. He said it was really coming down then. But now it’s already melting, as the temperature isn’t very cold.
When I broke the news to Bill about the tree, he was feeling a bit traumatized and full of dread, given our harrowing experiences dealing with the landlady in our last house. But he went out and shoveled the common area, and when the landlord eventually made an appearance, he told him about the tree. The landlord said, “Okay, I’ll come take a look at it later.” Then he drove off in his car to go pick up a new battery.
I set about taking down the two Christmas trees. I’d actually kind of been looking forward to taking them down… The smaller tree had a dead string of lights on it that gave me the excuse to get rid of the other strands like it, which for some reason had about 30 feet of wire for about ten feet of actual lights, and huge boxy plugs that made it hard to plug them into a power strip. I don’t know why they were like that, but boy, were they annoying. But they did last eight Christmases, so I guess that’s pretty good.
I do like looking at the lights… and I will miss their colorful, homey glow in the living room, which is not very highly furnished. But once January comes around, it becomes necessary to dispense with the holiday decor. Oh… I guess I could just leave it up… I did have a friend whose dad left up the beautiful Christmas tree her late mother had put up many years ago. It was actually very pretty, even though it was a holiday relic that had been turned into art.
My friend was an artist herself, and is now a psychology professor at the University of South Carolina, which is where I attended graduate school. I met her in the early 90s when we both worked at a church summer camp in Virginia. She had New Year’s party one year in her hometown of Grottoes, Virginia, for all of us camp folks. That’s how I got to see her mom’s tree… and the beautiful farm her dad owned. I remember it snowed then, too, and we went sledding! Later, we played “Spin the Bottle”, which was weird. But it was also fun! Sometimes, I miss being young.
The landlord just rang the doorbell and he and Bill went out back. He took one look at the tree and said, “Maybe it’s too old. Does it bother you now?”
Bill said it didn’t, but he just wanted to let the landlord know.
The landlord said, “Okay, we’ll just leave it for now, and then when the weather dries up a bit, we’ll remove it and maybe get a gardener to come in and plant something else.”
This probably means Bill will have to re-lay the boundary for the lawnmower robot again. But maybe we’ll get a fruit tree or something.
Wow… the difference between landlord/landlady responses to falling things due to acts of God is astounding. Bill is relieved that went so smoothly. So am I. I don’t know that crepe myrtles were the best idea for that spot in the yard, anyway. The fence that separates our yard from our neighbor’s is overgrown with ivy in the summer. That probably had a lot to do with why the trees died.
Anyway… now we have a reason to plant a real garden, if we can keep Noyzi out of it. I will miss the shade in the summer, though… and the privacy. It’s sad when trees collapse. Rest in peace, crepe myrtle. I’m sure our dearly departed Zane will be happy to lift his leg on you once again, up there over the Rainbow Bridge.
Edited to add: The tree that inspired this post actually came back during the spring. I guess it just needed a severe pruning. I was shocked to see beautiful purple blooms when the weather warmed up. The other myrtle, sadly, really did die on us, and is now just a dead stump that regularly gets consumed by ivy in the summer.
My friend Priya, her husband Ron, and our new friend, Heather, came up to Wiesbaden from Stuttgart yesterday. They asked Bill and me to join them at the Wiesbaden Christmas Market. The markets down near Stuttgart have mostly been cancelled, due to rising COVID-19 infections, but there are many towns in other states that are having smaller versions of their markets. Priya and Ron have been making their way to a number of them.
I was glad they invited us to join them. I had been wanting to to go the market, but was having trouble with motivation. The weather hasn’t been nice lately, and the COVID rules can be onerous. But thanks to our friends from Stuttgart, we managed to have a great time. It was quite a shock to hang out with people again. We were all laughing about the erosion of social skills that has happened since March 2020.
After a few hours and too much wine and beer, we said our goodbyes. Priya, Ron, and Heather went on to visit the market in Mainz. Bill and I went home to feed the dogs.
For some reason, the connection on this site is excruciatingly slow today. I’ll have to keep the commentary to a minimum. I also can’t delete the photos, so there are a few that look like repeats. I’ll try to fix these glitches later.
The weather was cloudy, but not too cold.The geese liked it.They had the food and beverage areas cordoned off.Everybody had to show ID and full COVID vaccination status to attend.And masks were required… but they didn’t have to be FFP2s.The sun even peeked out a few times.Giant gingerbread house!The potato pancakes were delicious. They came with garlic sauce.Bill got us a pulled pork box.It was delicious!
I didn’t do any writing yesterday because I wanted to put up the Christmas crapola. I usually put them up around Thanksgiving, but one of our neighbors already has up their Christmas lights. I like the way the lights look and didn’t feel like waiting. So I hauled our two trees up the steps from the basement and did the yearly decorating ritual.
Christmas in Germany is usually kind of a magical time of year. There are usually markets, which have rides, ice skating, food, and lots of unique gifts for sale. This year, thanks to COVID-19, the markets won’t be happening. Wiesbaden won’t have its adorable market in the big square, pictured above. Our little town of Breckenheim won’t have its one night event where everyone gathers for Gleuwein (hot mulled or spiced wine) and Lebkuchen (gingerbread). I suppose some people will still do that privately, but one of the nicest things about living in Germany is the community spirit here. I love going to fests and seeing people enjoying themselves. Thanks to the virus, we can’t this year. Just across the Rhein River in Mainz, though, there is hope for a new vaccine that will help us get back to living.
I have not left our neighborhood since early October. I don’t even remember the last time I was in downtown Wiesbaden. I’m reminded of the first time we lived in Germany and almost never visited downtown Stuttgart. I never even got a good look at that city during the first two year stint we spent in Germany from 2007-09. Now, I know Stuttgart pretty well, thanks to all of the traveling and exploring we did when we lived there the second time.
Last night, I told Bill that I would probably spend some money this year on Christmas. Last year, we spent money because we traveled to Nimes in France to see my friend Audra, and her family. This year, we can’t travel, so maybe it’s time I bought some stuff that make being at home better. I’m sure the economy could use the stimulation.
Here are a few photos from yesterday’s decorating drill…
Phew…
All done…
Time for a G&T…
Why do I have two Christmas trees? It’s because when we moved to Germany in 2007, I somehow forgot to pack our Christmas decorations. We ended up buying a fake tree at the PX in Stuttgart. That little tree, which really should be plenty for a couple like us, has followed us around ever since. I remember it was pre-lit with 220 bulbs, which I cut off when we moved to Georgia in 2009. Then when we moved to Texas, we got rid of our original tree, which I bought from Rose’s discount store in Fredericksburg, Virginia (we were broke in 2002). I got the new tree– the lovely fake Costco version which is so much easier to put together because the branches don’t detach.
I have never had a “real” Christmas tree. Mom didn’t like them because they were messy. I also used to love decorating for Christmas, but now I can see why Mom gave me that job when I was growing up. It’s tiresome, especially when it’s only for us. However, I do like to look at the lights. Mom also ran her own cross-stitch, needlepoint, and knitting business in Gloucester, Virginia, which she’d have to decorate for Christmas. She’d get a florist to come to our house and put up real pine garlands on our porches and hang pine wreaths. It was very pretty, but I’m sure it was expensive and exhausting, too. Incidentally, my mom made our stockings, too, although we never bothered to hang them when I was a kid. I can remember some years, my mom had me wrap my own presents! And I actually suck at wrapping presents, so they looked pretty terrible.
I guess it makes sense that I’d be kind of spiritless at Christmas. My mom always treated the holiday like a chore. She was also a musician, so she’d be busy playing Christmas music at church or with other ensembles. My dad was always in different singing groups, too. The holiday season was very busy for them, and probably wore them out, thanks to their businesses (dad’s picture framing and art selling business complimented mom’s). I would like to enjoy Christmas more, but for many years ,it was a source of angst for a lot of different reasons. But I do like the music and the lights… and this year, I will miss the markets very much.
Well… I may not catch the Christmas spirit this year, either… unless you count the spirits in Harris Gin. But at least the lights are pretty to look at, and we have Noyzi to help us celebrate. Noyzi was more upset about the unfamiliar boxes in the living than the trees. Go figure that dog!
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