Snapshots

— Christmas without Cashel? What? At least when Brendan called to wish us all Merry Christmas – he informed us that Cashel was, at that moment, sitting in his new blow-up R2 D2 chair and watching his new Star Wars DVD. All is right with the world. I MUST see Cashel sitting in that chair. I had overnighted my gifts – as we all had – and apparently Cashel had a great Christmas. He’s all about astronauts and also Superman right now. Oh, and also Green Day. He got many gifts along these lines.

— Mellow rainy weather. Rolling fog. Christmas morning was grey and foggy. Odd. Sodden leaves on the lawn. A huge bluejay terrorizing all the other birds.

— Siobhan and I, driving over to Jean’s, saw two deer standing on the side of the road. It was dark, so our headlights picked them up. They were perched RIGHT on the side of the winding country road – and they were FROZEN. Just standing there, as though posing for a picture. Magical.

— Excellent presents. My mom painted us all pictures of Red Sox players – the resemblances are uncanny. You don’t even need to see the NUMBERS on the backs of the uniforms to know who they are – because the poses are so specific, so recognizable. Manny’s swing – Manny’s uniform – how he pulls his pants legs down over his socks …. She just GOT David Ortiz’s swing – how that one leg kind of turns in, delicately, almost like a dance move. I got one of Varitek, right after hitting the ball. It’s SO Varitek. The calves (mmm, the calves) – and just the entire stance … so Tek. I hung it on my kitchen wall.

— Jean and Pat hosted a wonderful dinner party on Christmas eve. Jean cooked lamb – which was absolutely scrumptious. She was nervous about it – new recipe – but it was delicious. Their tree is adorable. Jean, Siobhan and I then plopped down in the living room and watched, according to the yearly tradition, the Sesame Street Christmas special – which Jean found on DVD. For years, we have been watching a beat-up video tape of it – that we had recorded off the television back in the 80s. We all know it by heart. It is absolutely magical. “And he pushes the button – and he steps up on the big step – and then he goes in!” Long pause. Grover looks right out at the camera. “And there you have it, folks!” We also always cry during the Bert and Ernie storyline – which is a variation on the gift of the Magi. I don’t care that they are puppets. They are ALIVE and they have facial expressions. They kill me. We had many in-depth discussions in re: Cookie Monster’s relentless psychosis, how our friend Nate can’t STAND Bob, how cool Gordon was, how nice it is that the Count is accepted by the group even though he’s borderline OCD, how much we always loved Olivia, the whole Snuffleupagus controversy, and many other pertinent issues. This may be a good time to unearth my Letter to Cookie Monster.

— My dad made a fire in the fireplace. I love the smell of woodsmoke. So cozy.

— Found an old hardcover bound copy of TThe Federalist Papers upstairs in one of the bedrooms. I’d never seen it before. Gorgeous. A deep red leather cover, with gold embossed lettering: THE FEDERALIST. I flipped through it. The pages have that kind of … shiny quality – I don’t know what it is – but you know how old-fashioned books, printed back in the 19th century have an almost slick paper – and if you run your hands over the pages, you can feel the imprint of the letters? That’s what this is like. Also – inserted within the pages were two little scraps cut out of a newspaper: one was an advertisement for Irish lace. The other a Bible quote. Pretty damn awesome. A whole life suggested in those two little scraps from history.

— Last night, Siobhan and I went over to Jean and Pat’s and we watched 40 Year old Virgin – I gave it to Siobhan for Christmas. Siobhan was the only one who had seen it! We all just HOWLED with laughter. GREAT movie. I enjoyed every second of it. The outtakes are especially enjoyable. hahahahaha I need to see it again. I thought it was fantastic. The Age of Aquarius music video at the end was sheer liquid joy. We could not stop laughing. Paul Rudd dancing around as though he were in the original cast of Hair – with a long scarf tied around his head. I couldn’t STAND it how funny it was.

— I got a little terra cotta angel to add to my little terra cotta Nativity set. We each got one. They’re so cute, so precious. I have it set up on my little bookcase right now.

— I slept the sleep of the dead. Normally I wake up so early – I don’t need an alarm clock – but I slept until 8 am on Christmas morning!! Unheard of.

— I am TEARING THROUGH The Selected Journals of L. M. Montgomery, Vol. 5: 1935-1942, sent to me by a very kind reader who – sadly – I do not have his email!! So whoever you are: I cannot thank you enough. It’s sad reading – she was quite a broken down woman by the end of her life – but I would read the woman’s damn grocery list. So I’m having a great time with it. Closing the circle. This is the fifth and final volume. 1935 – 1942. She suffered from mental collapse during these years – which finally made her snap with the outbreak of WWII. She could not recover. And yet – during this time – she kept writing. She wrote every day. She published, I think, 4 or 5 books during those last years. An astonishing thing. The will to create. In the midst of her horrible life, and what appears to be a clinical depression – she kept going. It was the only thing that kept her going. Even more astonishing when you actually read her books – such wonderful life-affirming human books. Not saccharine or sentimental – but firmly positive. And yet – her real life was so awful. It never ceases to amaze me. It makes her novels even MORE incredible. I see them in a whole new light – now that I know what an unhappy woman she was, personally. Anyway – thank you, kind sir out there!

— The only thing missing was Brendan and Cashel – but they were together and having a lovely Christmas with Melody. So that makes me happy to think of. We’ll see Bren and Cash this week when they come down to New York. It will be wonderful. I need a little Cashel face-time.