Settling into the Season

Wednesday, December 4, 2013 – Settling into the Season

I’ve finally made the psychological and physical adjustment to the approaching winter season.  I’ve even bundled up and gone out for walks on days when the temperature was in the 40s.  Of course, with Washington’s fickle weather, temperatures approaching 70 degrees are forecast for the end of the week.  But then again, we might get a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain by Sunday. 

Now that Elliott and I have settled down from the giddiness of the wedding, we’re finding plenty to keep us busy.  Last night, we went into DC for a piano recital at the Kennedy Center.  A young Korean pianist who goes by the name of Ji performed works by Bach, Schubert, and Ravel.  His playing was very youthful and technically brilliant.  But it was his encore, an achingly beautiful interpretation of the Brahms Intermezzo Op. 18 in A major, that impressed me the most.  In addition to enjoying the music, we also enjoyed being out in the city at night.  The Foggy Bottom area at 7 p.m. was so bustling that it reminded me of New York. 

Our major new project is redoing the kitchen and we’re still in the very early planning stages.  I can already see that this will keep us busy throughout the winter months.  We’re not making any travel plans at the moment.  Nor are we getting caught up in the holiday shopping frenzy.  In fact, my holiday shopping so far has been limited to an early morning trip to CVS on Thanksgiving morning to buy a couple of bottles of Vitron C for Elliott.  Happy Hanukkah, darling!   

And speaking of Hanukkah, tonight we lit the eighth candle.  But did you know there was a new Hanukkah miracle?  The oil lasted more than eight days.  And that means the holiday has been extended.  That’s great news for me, because we had so many leftovers from the Thanksgiving meal that I haven’t gotten around to making latkes yet.  Until an aromatic cloud hangs over my kitchen from sizzling sweet potato latkes, we will keep celebrating Hanukkah.