Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Nearly Midnight, Nearly Christmas…




In fact, for us it is Christmas…  We are not highly religious but do observe the holiday… Our dinner falls on Christmas Eve… The night before, but in fact the beginning of the festivities…

Tonight we hosted a dinner… for our family… ourselves and our children, Steph and Brian (Brian visiting from Florida… ) We had all three “extra” daughters… young ladies who are friends of our children, and who spend time here at our home… all have had keys to the house at some point… Two of the extra daughters brought their mothers… the third has in the past… being an extra daughter does not mean abandoning family… just joining an extra family… The final guest long term friend, is a one time employee…and family... 

We ate… we ate more… we had my families traditional Christmas Eve repast… roast beef (aka roast beast… or a standing rib roast or a prime rib… ) with Yorkshire pudding, and a salad…   we had asparagus as well… Brussels sprout have been severed some years… we considered them but asparagus won…  asparagus with sauce hollandaise…

There was wine… 

There was rice pudding… Danish rice pudding… a tradition from Tina’s side that I have embraced… there is a hidden almond… I found the almond and won the prize…  Alternately we had a chocolate cheese cake and an apple pie… 

An abundance of food (or wine) was not an issue…

After dinner we played Cards Against Humanity… a rude and crude card game… It was fun… I believe for all… but may have challenged the cultural sensitivities of some…  For we had a diverse bunch here for dinner… Indonesian, Sikh, and “English”…   

Now, nearly midnight… all others have left for home or gone to bed…

There is a fire burning… an illegal fire…  for it  is a no-burn night…  I  believe for our celebration the fire is sacred… both for the warmth and place to gather on a cold eve… but also as the celebration of the turn… the turn when the days go from shorter and shorter to longer…  The solstice… the holiday celebrated before the Roman occupation… before the Romans adopted the day as a day to celebrate the birth of Christ…

I have walked the dog… about the neighborhood… some houses with their seasonal lights still blazing… a challenge to the darkness of winter… 

Good night… it is for me…

No comments:

Post a Comment