1) I love the week between Christmas and New Year’s, which has a radiance the way Christmas morning did when I was a child. I always tried to take this week as a vacation from the office in the last 30 years. It’s a time apart.
1a) I’ll admit this week radiates a little more brightly when there’s snow on the ground, but “we already have the moon, let’s not ask for the stars.”
2) If we weren’t in the midst of a pandemic, I would want very much to get together with friends one on one or in small groups for lunch out, afternoon tea in, drinks, dinner. But we are in the midst of a pandemic, and I have deliberately kept my schedule a blank. At the moment I have a ticket to visit the MFA (on my own) one day, and Friday a friend is coming by for a morning coffee. Otherwise, I will be isolating.
3) Instead I want to do some serious planning for 2022 — writing, travel, domesticity, etc. — which will give me a blueprint. And the other thing I really want to do is read The Economist special year-end issue to look at the year ahead. When I was still flying home for Christmas I’d pick that up at Logan Airport and still be reading it on the flights home a week or so later. It’s a nice year-end ritual for me.
4) Today, however, I need to direct my attention to the remaning Christmas cards that need to be sent, since I virtuously completed all eight of my thank-you notes yesterday.
5) I really can’t take an hour for granted, because the nice shiny feeling of a new week usually expires by Tuesday evening. Onward!