While we were away in Pennsylvania, the central Michigan area picked up another few inches of wet snow on top of what we already had on the ground, and that made for some tricky hiking conditions on Christmas morning.
Wifey would be joining me for the early morning lumber, and we debated whether to take the snowshoes with us or not. We settled on sharing my trekking poles and using hikers, and that proved to be just fine, with only minor slipping here and there.
It was a short hike, coming in at just over 3 miles, but it was a great way to start Christmas Day and spend some time together.
Once home and showered, I set about making Christmas Brunch. It’s a tradition that my in-laws treated us to for years and one that I happily took over for my peeps in recent years in an attempt to keep the practice going.
This year’s spread included scrambled eggs, a couple fried eggs, toast, bacon, homemade turkey sausage, seasoned roasted potatoes, pomegranates that Wifey had shucked, and copious amounts of coffee.
While I cooked and listened to the soothing sounds of Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas, Wifey slipped into Gingie Elf Mode and did a damn good job of adding some cheer to what would otherwise be a fairly cheerless holiday. It reminded me of my first birthday after my mom died, when her humor, good nature, and love pulled me through. Only this time, she was doing it for all of us.
We ate, drank coffee, exchanged gifts, watched a shitty Steelers game, and then parted ways for a bit until Christmas dinner that evening, in which I went full-on Feliz Navidad and made a spread of spicy marinated chicken breasts, semi-homemade refried black beans, homemade Mexican rice, chips, salsa, and all the fixings. It was not your typical “white people Christmas dinner,” but everything turned out awesome, and I was firmly in my happy place cooking and enjoying some bevies.
On Boxing Day, I was up at 6 AM for Lola and to coffee up and get out the door ASAP for a lumber so I could get back before Spurs kicked off at 10 AM.
Phone pic.
I started the lumber in complete darkness with a headlamp a full half hour before sunrise, but I was NOT the first car in the lot. That honor belonged to some dudes ice fishing on the thin ice of the Chip as a misty rain fell. I admired their want to be out, but the warm temps and melting ice gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Despite the slippery, wet snow, I utilized my trekking poles and made OK time as I made my way around a 4.30-mile loop.
***
It was nice to be hiking this morning and see many signs of folks enjoying the outdoors in the snow; ski tracks, snowshoe tracks, boot prints, freshly made woodsy snowmen, ice fishermen, and a lone bike camper at the campground. Outside is free, so get the hell out there and enjoy it!
Due to my early start, I made it home in plenty of time for a shower, breakfast, and a double cappuccino brewed up fresh for me courtesy of Wifey and the espresso machine I got her for Christmas.
Then I wasted my time watching Spurs play like shit and lose 1-0 to the resurgent Nottingham Forest, who are, of course, coached by a manager that only lasted 17 games with Tottenham before being axed—brilliant.
The last week has been a rollercoaster of sadness, stress, and emotions, but it was nice to be back in our own home together with my two favorite people and making the best of what was otherwise a pretty shit holiday.
I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and, hopefully, a return to a normal routine.
Later.