2020 Life Logs, Day 344: First Night of Hanukkah
Date: Thursday, December 10, 2020
Weather: Sunny, Melting Snow: High 45, Low 32 Degrees
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
The sun was shining today in a clear blue sky, the snow was melting, and I was out and about all day. I volunteered to take Jonah to school for an 8:15 am start, came home to get Ollie and take him to school for a 9 am start, and then drove to Mashpee to meet friend Midge Frieswyk. We have been wanting to get together but weren’t sure how to do this safely. I suggested we meet at the Cape Cod Coffee Shop in Mashpee Commons that still has outdoor seating. They have seating on the sidewalk where there is no shade, so I suggested we meet there. I thought we might freeze to death, but it was actually quite comfortable. The morning temperature was still in the 30’s, but by bundling up and sitting in the sun while sipping on warm tea and coffee, we were fine. Then I was off to the grocery store and then to the post office in East Falmouth to get some. advice on sending the last of the Christmas packages. Bill, the postman who mans the window there, is always so helpful no matter how busy. Until the changes made this summer by the new Postmaster General, there were always two windows open, but now it is just one which makes for long waiting lines. But Bill just keeps steady and takes time with each customer to make sure he meets their needs. He was one of my heroes during the time after Hurricane Maria when I was sending so many things to Puerto Rico. I hate to see him working so hard, but I sure am glad he is there. It was well after noon when I left the Post Office, so I headed home to get some lunch, get the packages ready as Bill instructed, and then back out again to Shadow to play with Sam for a bit after school. Sam said he needed a therapy dog today, so Shadow volunteered. While Sam and Shadow played, I went to the nearest post office to mail the packages and then went back to pick up Jonah and Shadow. Jonah walked home after school and waited for me in the driveway. He and Sam kept a healthy distance from one another and kept their masks on, but they at least got to say hello. Jonah, Shadow, and I then picked Ollie up after school and I finally got home for the day around 3:30 pm.
We spent the late afternoon getting ready to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Since sundown was at 4:10, we waited until we were ready to eat dinner to light the first candle. The we feasted on the best latkes I have ever eaten. I prepared the potatoes and Heather did the frying. She used avocado oil and the resulting latkes were crisp and delicious. We were on Zoom with Sam and Jed who were also having latkes. All of us opened Hanukkah bags of goodies sent to us from Grammy Marti and then we ended the evening playing a card game called Marshmallow Test. Jonah and Ollie were quite entertaining, and we all spent much of the game time laughing uncontrollably. As Jonah would say, that was quite satisfying.
