1. As I was doing my morning routine this morning, Christy posted the picture we took with the camera function and a timer on Zoe's cell phone. It's a superb picture of Christy surrounded by 4/5 of the Roberts family and Debbie and me, all with Jolly Juice and a single ice cube in a red solo cup, just the way Everett liked to enjoy beverages. We are toasting Everett, honoring his long and full life. The picture shows we can be happy, happy to be together, happy to be raising a cup to Everett, and sad, sad that Everett died last year, happy and sad at the same time.
You'll find the picture at the bottom of this post.
2. Colette, Bridgit, Bill, Diane, and I jumped on the ZOOM machine around 2:00. I enjoyed the 50 minutes I got to hang out with my Westminster Basement Study Group friends, especially as we talked about the gulfs that exist between our generation and younger people, but also about ways gulfs do not exist. I've written many times in this blog about how much Debbie and I enjoy striking up conversations with young people when we are out and about and how fortunate we've been to hit it off with essentially all of them. I haven't been in a college classroom now for nearly seven years. I miss the day to day interactions I had with young people when I taught and it makes me happy that I can fill that void, to a degree, when we go out.
I also enjoy listening to my nieces talk about their experiences and hearing them comment on life. I don't always know what they are talking about -- I don't play video games, listen to much contemporary music, or go to superhero or apocalyptic or celebrity-centered movies; I don't go to Comicons, I don't make references in conversation to Star War movies or The Lord of the Rings, and I have no idea how to make a Tik Tok. It doesn't matter. I don't need to know in order to enjoy their enjoyment and, to my delight, I learn about things I'd never know if it weren't for younger people in my life.
3. Carol and Paul began a tradition many years ago of preparing and eating a Christmas dinner with food from a country outside the USA on Christmas Eve. When they moved to Kellogg, they brought this tradition with them. Because Cosette worked on Christmas Day, we moved our international dinner to the day after Christmas -- I guess we could have called it our Boxing Day dinner.
This year we prepared and enjoyed food from India. We had samosas for an appetizer. Our dinner was a cornucopia of foods, textures, great smells, and spices (with emphasis on little or no spicy heat). The dinner centered around curry chicken with a fried rice dish. In its support we ate a creamy Indian salad, a split pea soup with white rice, a green bean dish, a dish combining cauliflower and potatoes, and naan (bread).
After dinner, we retired to the living room and I loved the dessert Christy made. It was a cashew based square topped with edible glitter called Kaju Katli.
I am not the volume eater I once was, so I couldn't every bite that was on my plate. But sampled and enjoyed each dish. It was fun to enjoy so many flavors we aren't used to. Now I'd like to focus on some of these dishes and their flavors one or two at a time. I could do this at home with Debbie or as a family dinner option.
Here's our Jolly Juice picture.
Back row, left to right, Bill, Debbie, Carol, Paul.
Front row, left to right: Molly, Christy, Zoe.
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