Saturday, December 12, 2020

Pandemic Christmas

 It's shaping up to be the oddest holiday season of my life, and I'm sure it's the same for every one of you reading this. Yesterday South Carolina set a Covid record: over 3200 new positive cases and 49 reported deaths, and that's in a single day. Some counties in the state have hospitals at 100% capacity with no available beds, so the situation is becoming more dire by the day.

 At my school (and all the other schools in our district) the number of cases have also been going up and up and up, and that's not even counting the number of students and staff who are required to stay home and quarantine because of exposure to someone who's positive. It's a real mess. The school board announced that we'll get out earlier for the holiday break than originally planned, with our last day being the 18th instead of the 23rd. Even so, our (wonderful) school nurse told me yesterday that she's shocked that we haven't gone back all virtual given how bad the district numbers are trending.People are becoming frightened and even a bit paranoid, like a couple of teachers who've been going for weekly Covid tests despite having no symptoms and everyone taking rigorous precautions. I can't blame them. A few teachers across the state with no pre existing conditions have actually died. And far too many people in the community simply refuse to believe in the seriousness of this virus and continue to go about their normal activities, maskless and fancy free. They make me furious. If it were only their own ignorant selves they were endangering, that would be fine with me, but unfortunately we're all at risk because of them. Our current record breaking numbers are the fallout from Thanksgiving gatherings, and January is going to be even more deadly once we're a couple of weeks past Christmas.

As for the approach of Christmas, our already short list of people to buy gifts for is shorter than usual. We won't be seeing any family or friends for the foreseeable future to exchange presents, and the truth is that this has been such an expensive year for us, both in terms of lost income and emergencies to pay for, that we would need to curtail most gift buying anyway. I did buy a Christmas present for my buddy, Little P., though. 

That kid is forever making paper airplanes. He's fairly obsessed with them. Unfortunately, he doesn't really know how to make them properly so they never work very well and are kind of sad, but he remains undeterred. On Thursday afternoon he brought his latest one to show me. He threw it, and it went all of one foot then it hit the floor with a plop. He smiled. I said, "You really love paper airplanes, don't you?" and he replied "I was born to make paper airplanes!" Hahaha. That boy cracks me up! So when I saw this kit at the bookstore that evening (I had dashed in to buy Christmas cards) I knew he would love it.


I'm planning to cook and bake a lot less than usual this Christmas. There will still be a ham, and a few favorite snacks, appetizers, and simple meals. I may even bake a batch or two of cookies, but that's about it. We've had our tree up for a while now, and last weekend we strung some colored lights on the back porch, for fun. 



So many houses in our little neighborhood have lights and decorations up this year! We enjoy looking at them when we're out walking George at night. Even in pandemic times those simple pleasures can be enjoyed safely. Here are two houses I've gotten pictures of so far.



I should be finishing up my Christmas cards this weekend and getting them mailed out next week. I love sending them and I really love receiving them. That's another thing that can be enjoyed safely....reaching out via card or letter to friends and family. I sure will miss seeing everyone this year, but it's kind of nice in a way to have an excuse to do less and have a simpler holiday for once.

What kind of holiday plans do you have this crazy year? How do you feel about it all? 


19 comments:

  1. What a perfect gift you got for that amazing little guy!
    What he said about being born to make paper airplanes reminded me of something that happened awhile back here. My husband's nephew came to stay with us and brought some friends. They all loved to play music which would have been fine but honestly- it was not very good. The nephew was the vocalist and he was sort of a terrible singer. I was talking to him about his future aspirations as to music and he said, "I truly believe I was born to sing."
    Whoa! As far as I know, that's still an unfulfilled dream.
    Don't even ask me how I feel about Christmas. On my best years it's painful. This is not one of those.

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  2. You found the perfect thing for the little lad! This Christmas, i put up lights, The end.

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  3. Bucks County schools never did reopen after Thanksgiving break. They are going back sometime after the new year. They never should have gone back just an impossible situation.

    Paper Airplanes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im an expert plane maker if I say so myself!!!!!

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  4. FINISHED MY CARDS TODAY; THEY WILL BE MAILED ON MONDAY.

    WE ALREADY HAVE OUR HOLIDAY FOOD IN HOUSE.

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  5. Nice lights! The plane is soooo coool. And I've decided Christmas dinner's going to be meatloaf and scalloped potatoes, two foods that are dear to my heart.

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  6. Lights are such a pretty, cheering way to reach out to the rest of the neighborhood.
    That book is genius. Little P will learn, too, from all the airplane folding.

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  7. My Christmas will be really quiet this year, but that's okay. My daughter will spend it with my ex-wife, and our Christmas will be a few days before. We actually get out of school on the 18th for a two week break. We went back to all virtual right after Thanksgiving, and I am happy we did. Have a wonderful holiday.

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  8. Hope you two have a wonderful but safe Christmas. My wife has chemo two days before so Christmas day will be her third day after the infusion which means she will not be able to eat let alone get out of bed. We are both looking forward to next year.

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  9. Our Christmas will be a quiet one as well. My part of Christmas shopping is done. We've got one package due to arrive on December 17 but everything else is not only here, but wrapped under the tree. Right now, I'm up to my armpits homeschooling a 4th grader and a 1st grader. The comment was made: "Is this too much?" It surprised me. Too much? It's right now. We just have to get through it. Day by day, we are doing just that.

    Your porch looks so lovely.

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  10. I tell my patients if you are having a dull, lackluster, disappointing Christmas this year you are doing it right. I too will be doing a lot of cooking and feasting (for two). I hope it is good enough.

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  11. Many of us have been warning about silly behaviour leading to a THIRD wave.... it looks like it's now happening world-wide. Christmas isn't the be-all of the year; stay safe is the message this year.

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  12. Christmas Eve won‘t be much different, as there are usually just the fournif us (Mum, Dad, sister and I) plus our two closest friends who live on their own. They might not join us this year.
    I like your decorated porch! My sister gave me a star to hang in my window and light up at dark, and one of my neighbours has already told me how she enjoys seeing it when she comes home from work.

    Little P. will LOVE his present, after all, he was born to make paper planes! :-)

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  13. I've been virtual schooling with my 1st grader GS since August. They tried the hybrid set-up (cohort A and cohort B-alternate weeks in school) in early November for K-2nd grades in my county. Lasted just two weeks--making the teacher deal with those in-school--about 10-15--and those at home-another 10+--on-screen at the same time (nightmare). Then the county/state numbers took off again, so back to all virtual. This week the school board voted (3-2) that beginning in January, not only will K-2 go back to hybrid, but all grades will do so by the end of that month. Meanwhile, my (small) state's numbers (3,538 yesterday with 36-50+ dying each day) have skyrocketed. I don't see a return to the hybrid model happening with post-Christmas numbers meeting holiday stupidity. An emergency meeting will take place in January, but who knows--not a lot of common sense prevailing.

    As for Christmas--we'll be home alone. Not a bad thing. Would rather be able to celebrate all my days in 2021 and beyond, rather than risk them all to celebrate just one.

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  14. Well, you read my rant this morning, so you know how I've been feeling. :/

    But I agree with your frustration at people who haven't taken any precautions at all, or who shrug off the virus as a media creation or conspiracy. It's amazing the capacity some people have for denial.

    Your pal is going to LOVE the paper airplane kit!

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  15. I would have gone nuts for that paper airplane book when I was a kid. What a great find and great gift. Things are much better here regarding covid-19, but I sure am looking forward to this all being in the past. No plans at all for Christmas. I haven't put out even a few of our decorations. I hope we don't regret that decision.

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  16. What a perfect gift for Little P.! Your porch looks so nice with the lights. I would love to have a screened in porch. This Christmas is a bit different, that is for sure. I'm still running in circles trying to get things done though and I don't know why I'm not better organized at this time of the year. My son and his family will still come over on Christmas day but they are the only people we ever see now and only occasionally with them. Enjoy the season Jennifer!

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  17. Our Christmas will be more relaxed which might actually turn out to be a good thing. Fewer people to see, fewer places to rush around to, and more time to see each of my children (I hope). We will see who can come visit and when they can visit and if it is safe for all...
    I am looking forward to a more peaceful Christmas!

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  18. Jenny and I will be having our usual quiet Christmas, just the two of us. What family members we have are all in England and will stay there for Christmas. We'll just be cooking a few fancy meals and washing them down with champagne. And hopefully there will be a few good TV movies.

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  19. Hi! I was comment-hopping and happened across your little slice of wonderful here, and I like it! I was a paper airplane demon when I was in grade school, and back around 1970 - something a guy wrote a book for Klutz Press about how to make different styles. I terrorized my sixth grade class with Paper From Above! I remember there was one you could launch with a rubber band using a paper clip folded into the plane. I went on the roof of our house with that contraption and people were finding them in their yards for days afterwards!

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