Wordle-ing

Probably most people who are in the habit of attempting the game, Wordle, once a day, just use their phones. I've found that I can't concentrate on finding the word within 6 tries by looking at the QWERTY keyboard displayed on the screen. I use a pen and paper, preferably one of my favorite BIC 4-color pens and a spiral notebook. It's probably seen by others as a little obsessive, but I enjoy writing down the 5 lines for blank spaces where the correct word will end up, and then quickly inscribing the alphabet in a fairly neat column. My husband Doug and I decided not to compete with each other on two phones, but rather to do it together, each with our own pen and paper. He'll do his figuring on any scrap of paper he can find, or on an old envelope. Every time we enter a guess, we have a silly habit that I do a drum roll with my tongue, and he taps his pen on the table, (somewhat irritating to me at times, since occasionally he starts his drum roll before I've even brought the game up on my phone!)

One time recently he said, "I don't have anything to write on. I'll just share your paper." That's when I realized how OCDish I had become about my own space. He started writing words we were going to try in the 5 spaces I had reserved for the final answer, and then CROSSING off the letters that didn't work....in MY SPACE! He also didn't have his own pen, and I had to wait my turn to use it.

Shocked to see what was happening, I said, "What are you doing??"

"It's just my way of figuring", he said.

I tried to be more sharing, starting to make a new set of 5 spaces for my own figuring. "Could you please keep away from my alphabet though? I have my own little system where I cross off the letters that are wrong, and put checks next to the ones that show up yellow, and are somewhere else in the word, see? And then I like to put a little square around the letter that's in the right place." "Hmm," he said.  finding that after our first guessed word, the 4th letter, O showed up green, and therefore in the correct spot,  I placed it there and put a square around it. He kept marking up my original spot, but seemed to get it that that my new area was now reserved only for me.

We continued to brainstorm, mentioning possible words, and sometimes catching each other in a mistake, like, "How about canoe?"  "Nope, there is no N", or "The E can be anywhere but the end." "Darn!", I say, but happy to have missed a close call, and not wasting a turn. Two brains ARE better than one.

The Wordle people are rather kind if a word is misspelled and not on their word list. For example, for some reason, I have it in my head to spell "bagel" wrong. I put in "bagle", and the letters wiggled on the screen, and said "not on word list", not penalizing us nor counting it as one of our guesses.

When we first started playing, Doug said, "There must be certain consonants that are in most words.", so he diligently looked up on Google what they recommended. "S, T, R, and N are the most common, so what do you think of starting with store or story as our first word? Yesterday's word ended in E, so maybe we should start with story, since it ends in y."

He always tries to bring logic into the game and tries to strategize. He realized that past words have most often been nouns. In the last few games, we feel that the maker of the puzzle at the New York Times, is messing with us and giving us the most obscure 5-letter words, leading us to choose the most uncommon one we can think of, or making us take a chance on repeating an already used letter. "Robot" was the word that introduced us to the fact that we could re-use a letter in another spot.

We were trying to up our game, since at first we thought we were beating the system by starting with "adieu" or "adios" as our first try, thinking that we should try out a lot of vowels first. Then we realized that very few words end in U, and we have yet to see a plural word, so both of those words are a waste of a perfectly good try. Can't have that.

A few months ago, I traveled to Washington DC to visit my daughter and new grandchild. Doug and I worried how we were going to keep up our streak of about 98 Wordles straight without losing when we were apart. I told him I didn't want to take the chance of breaking our winning streak by doing it on my own. We finally decided to talk on speaker phone together each day, discussing each word.

One evening I called Doug and we both had our pen and paper ready. I had him on speaker, as we discussed each word possibility . On the 5th try, we had E, O, and Y in their correct (green) spots. Jennie had been overhearing us making suggestions and we both agreed that "epoxy" would work. "But it can't be that," Doug worried, "It's a brand name!" It was a chance to take, but we took it, and thankfully, on the sixth try, it was right. My daughter said it was so hard for her to hear our conversations about it, since she had already done the game for the day. She was thinking, "Yes! It's a word! Go for it!" but all Wordlers are sworn to secrecy, so she painfully kept her mouth shut.

Then, I said, "I'll have to report into Lucas and Jen, (my son and daughter-in-law), to let them know how we did. We do this every day."

"What?", she exclaimed. "I want to be in on that too!" Sooner or later, we had her husband chiming in as well, all competing together. For me it's made the world seem a little smaller, since I'm in California and my kids are in New York and DC. Now our little group uses the text also to share photos of everything going on in our lives. 

Actually, after quite a lot of time, Doug and I are the main devotees to Wordle. We're retired, and they aren't, and we all think that the words are getting harder. I mean, tryst? midge? aphid? Really. 

If you've gotten this far in my story, it's probably because you like the game too. We've talked to friends about strategies, and some are as enthusiastic as we are, while I watch others' eyes glaze over at the thought of Wordle. We however, still make time in our day to try our hand at it, even though today we got frustrated and finally lost. All of our logic flew out the window, as we tried all the most obscure words first, finally losing to what we thought would be the most common one, "power"!

There will be days like that, but I guess I'll continue to inscribe the alphabet each day on my tablet. I think my kindergarten teacher would be proud.

Our Prius "Camper"

Whenever we tell folks that when we camp, we sleep in our Prius, they say, "What? But you're so tall! How could you do it?" Well, for one thing, the clincher that helped my husband in deciding whether or not to even purchase a Prius is to make sure that we could sleep in it. He secretly took measurements before even letting me know he was interested, so as to not get my hopes up, only to be dashed. The newer version, in 2004 fit the bill, and we test drove it around Berkeley. The salesman wondered outloud, "Why is it that all of the Berkeley people want to make sure that the car is long enough to sleep in?" 

Well, we both liked the idea, since in our former lives we had enjoyed long trips across country. Mine was in an oxidized red '69 Dodge van made in to a camper, and his was in an Austin Estate Wagon. We both like saving money on motels, and we have fond memories of waking up in the morning to birdsong and cooking breakfast outdoors. Coffee tastes best that way.

This was the beginning of the hybrid craze. and we were right with the folks wanting to do everything they could to save the planet. The idea of saving money on gas made it even a sweeter deal. The Prius was so popular though, that Toyota couldn't seem to keep up with the demand. If we had wanted a certain color, the time for it to be delivered couldn't be promised, but if we took one of the next ones that were delivered to the dealership, we could get it sooner. When they came, they were all silver. Oh well, we weren't that picky.

Our first adventure was on a trip to Lake Tahoe, just a 3-1/2 hour drive from the Bay Area. We were one of the first in line at Emerald Bay campground, since it was on a  first come, first served basis . We scored a place right near one of the restrooms,  to make life easier for nighttime bathroom needs. We put our food in a bear locker, and then went out to shop for the rest of our supplies. Unsure of the level of propane we had for our camp stove, we bought a new canister, some tall Jesus candles to light our table at night, some pre-made shish kebobs to barbeque, and of course, Peet's coffee for in the morning. Doug found a deal on some Jameson's Irish Whiskey to warm us around the fire later.

Spotting a sign for Fallen Leaf Lake on the way back from our shopping excursion to South Lake Tahoe, Doug said, "Let's go check that out! I haven't been there for years. We've got time." So we turned off of Hwy. 89 and drove past the Fallen Leaf Campground, down the road pointing to the little lake. It became a very windy road and mostly one lane, forcing us to pull way over into the grass to let cars and trucks pass by. We finally made it to the end, saw the lake and turned around to go back, when it started to rain. Really hard. 

We turned on our lights and had the windshield wipers going at full speed, as we carefully navigated the curves in the other direction. Glad to be through that and back out to 89, it started hailing! Huge, golf ball chunks of ice rained down on us, and we pulled over to the side for protection under some pine trees, afraid that our poor new car may get dented. After about a half an hour, a drizzly rain resumed, and we ventured out to our reserved campsite, wondering if we should just get a motel room.

Our campsite hadn't fared very well. We sat in the car and took in the situation. The path to the restroom was flooded, and of course the picnic table was all wet. Doug looked at the radar app we had on our phone, and saw that it looked like the storm was headed north and should stop soon. He said, "Hold on. I'll be right back", as I saw him lift up the hood on his jacket, and run to the back of the car. He was back in a jiffy, a little damp, with our two camping wine glasses, the Jameson's, some crackers, two sticks of string cheese, and a newspaper. "Let's just sit here and wait it out. I don't think it'll be that long." 

I conceded that I'd give it a try, but started to dream of a hot bath in a hotel. We sat there, having a little early happy hour, at 4 pm, and did one of our favorite pastimes together.... the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Doug specializes in the historical clues and I get the more modern answers. He kept glancing at the MyRadar app on our phone to keep an eye on the storm and bet that it would pass by in about a half hour. I looked at the pond that had formed between us and the restroom, still thinking about that hot bath.

 In about 45 minutes, sure enough, the sun came out. Doug opened the car door saying, "Let's go out and build a campfire! I put our firewood in the bear cabinet, so it will be dry." 

Wow, I thought. He really wants to do this. I put away our snacks, and stepped out, gingerly avoiding the puddle that had formed outside my door. I got out our camp chairs, and positioned them next to the fire pit, where he was busily balling up the green sports section of the newspaper to help start the fire. He got out his axe and chipped off some pieces from the pine logs for kindling. 

I ventured off to see how the restroom fared. There was still a pretty deep puddle between us and it, but there was a hill in the middle of it, providing me with a narrow path to navigate my way there. I decided to bring one of the tall Jesus candles with me, and my flashlight, since it was starting to get dark. Setting the candle at the center of the drier path seemed like a good idea to be able to find my way back without stepping into a pool on either side. When I got to the open door, I heard something inside, and a raccoon came running out. I guess he found a nice place to be in the storm! On the way back on the lighted path, I could see the glow of our campfire, and Doug sitting next to it, happily arranging our shish kebobs on a little rack that we carry with us. "See?", he said, "Everything is perfect!"

After a satisfying dinner, sitting in our nice, dry camp chairs near the fire, and a couple of more Jameson's with water, we thought we'd better get busy on our usual chores. Water was heating on our camp stove so I could do the dishes, which I don't mind doing at all when we're camping, since it warms up my chilly hands. 

Doug is the one who tends to our sleeping arrangement. He put as much as he could of our supplies in the bearproof cabinet, and then carried over the small hassocks he bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond that we store our camping supplies in. He made the front seats of the Prius go all the way forward, and placed the boxes on the floor behind them so they filled in the foot space. Then the backs of the seats are folded down, and our foam futon mattress goes on top. As I placed the washed dishes upside down on a dishtowel to dry on the picnic table, I could see him working with the dome light illuminating the inside of the car, and my heart melted. He was arranging our sleeping bags and pillows lovingly and folding back the corners to invite us to bed. All that would be missing was a little piece of chocolate on our pillow.

He had arranged our small suitcases and backpacks on the front seats, so we did what we needed to do to get ready for bed while standing outside the car. No one else seemed to be close by in the campground, I guess they chickened out because of the rain. One more trip over to the restroom with a flashlight, and I noticed that the pond was shrinking already and that the path was a little wider. I put on my jammy bottoms and a t-shirt and filled a bottle with water for us for the night, and walked back to our little nest.  I could see it, glowing ahead of me. Doug had added a colorful throw on top of the sleeping bags, and it looked so cozy. 

As I climbed in, I noticed that he had lowered the two back windows so we wouldn't suffocate, so that was good. We snuggled under the covers and looked up at the grey ceiling, feeling very satisfied and proud of ourselves, stretching our long bodies out comfortably. "And they said it couldn't be done", he said, and turned out the dome light.

I dozed off, but about a half hour later, I thought I heard something outside. "I think I might be hearing a bear!", I whispered, jostling him awake. 

"It's okay", he said drowsily, " They can't get to us in here. Don't worry. Go back to sleep"

I tried to relax, but heard more rustling, and remembered what the ranger at the little museum over at D.L.Bliss State Park told us about how many bears there were around Tahoe. She said that they can smell things like candy and even perfume, and want to break in to get them. "Remember what the ranger said about bears?", I said, poking him once more.

"Oh honey, go to sleep please. I put all of our food in the bear-proof cupboard. We'll be fine."

After thinking a moment, I remembered the candy I always had stashed in my backpack, and the bag of Werther's that we keep in the compartment between the seats for snacks on the road. "I'm remembering the candy we have in here."

"What? You want a piece now?"

"No! Just what if the bear wants to come and get some? What will we do? He could put his big claws inside the open window and pull it out! We have to have a plan!

"A bear can't do that." I could hear sleepiness and a little annoyance in his voice.

"I'm gonna rollup my window and open the one in the front a little so at least his claws won't be so close to my face," I whispered. But when I tried that, "Oh no! It won't go up without the power on!" 

I struggled loose of my warm sleeping bag, and moved my pillow out of the way, to reach between the front seats to the dashboard. Doug opened his eyes to see my pajamaed rear end wriggling past his face as I stretched to reach the power button. "Now what are you doing?", he asked sleepily.

"I have to figure out how to reach the brake pedal with one hand, and then press the power button, right?", I said with my head under the steering wheel.

"Sweetheart, I think if you just press the power button twice it'll work the windows. I read it in the manual."

"Ooh. That's easier!" It worked, and I readjusted the windows to my satisfaction. "I know! We could also honk the horn and turn on the red hazard lights! I think bears wouldn't like to see all that commotion."

"Yes dear." I hate it when he says that. "Are you ready for bed now?"

"Not really, after all that workout, but I feel safer anyway." I couldn't envision sleeping, but snuggled back under the covers, spooning Doug, my face totally buried in his shirt, trying to get my nose warm.

And then it was morning.

Visitations

 It was a busy day at Lowe's garden department. The employees complained that too many plants had been delivered, and it was hard to keep them all watered. Customers were just filled with the hope of Spring and happy to see the abundance of flowers and bushes, even if there wasn't a sale. I had chosen a beautiful white rose, that I couldn't resist, with lots of promising looking buds on it. It even attracted the comments of other shoppers I passed, as if it was a cute baby riding in my cart.

I took my place in the long checkout line, and watched, as an older woman came through the doors from the patio pushing a flatbed cart with things she had chosen. Gosh, I thought, she looks so much like Helen, my mother-in-law who passed away in 1999. Her white, naturally curly, short hair and colorful clothes brought back memories of "Tutu", and made me feel good. 

Then, "Oh!", my heel had been run into by a cart behind me.....and there she was!!

"Oh my goodness! Did I hurt you?"

"It's not bad. Don't worry." She had made a quick u-turn to get into line behind me.

"You know", I said, "I'm glad to be able to talk to you, because when you came in the door, you reminded me of my mother-in-law. I haven't seen her for a long time."

"Oh my! I hope that is a Good thing!" she said with a little wink.

"It definitely is. We were great friends. I've even been wearing her wedding band on my finger for the last couple of weeks. It's made me feel closer to her."

We chatted about the flowers we bought and how busy it was, and I noticed her nice wrinkly Irish face, and her sparkling blue eyes. Hi Tutu, I thought. As I left, I told her how nice it was to meet her, and almost asked for her name. Then I thought better of it. It would have been too weird if it had been Helen.

I'm remembering another time I "saw" Helen. I was shopping at a Long's Drugs, looking for the perfect shampoo. A lady near me started chatting with me about which one to choose, there were so many types. Once again, the curly white hair and familiar face and attitude. I said, "My goodness, you certainly look a lot like my mother-in-law!"

She said, "All my life people have said I reminded them of Janet Gaynor. You probably don't know who she was."

"Actually I do! My Helen always said she was mistaken for that actress, since they were about the same age when she became popular in the movies in the 30's. Now I can see why there's such a resemblance! Thanks for talking to me first, it's exactly what Helen would have done. She was always so friendly to strangers."

This has happened to me at other times. Years ago in a church where my family attended. My husband, with teary eyes, elbowed me as he watched someone coming down the aisle. I looked and sure enough, a salty haired man who was identical to Wally, my father-in-law, took the seat a couple of pews ahead of us. Wally had passed away a few years before. Every so often we'd see the man again, never having a conversation, but aways nodding at each other and remembering.

One other time, when I worked as a waitress at a Baker's Square, a woman came in for lunch who reminded me of my Grandma Diddo. Talking to her, her voice sounded so familiar, even with the little chuckle I recall. I confessed to her what I was thinking, and she thought it was nice. After that she always asked to sit in my section, and sometimes I'd even say, "Bye Diddo" as she left. She'd smile.

What does all this mean? Probably nothing. They were all just what I call a visitation, a surprising little gift from God. I've heard that when a hummingbird comes and flutters near your face, it's called a visitation. This may be something a little bit more. My little visits bring back fond memories of loved ones, and make me think that perhaps they want me to still be thinking about them, and praying for them.

Helen "Tutu" and me

Wally Romer with baby Walt

Even Another Different Covid Christmas in 2021: Typhoid Patty!

 Thanksgiving went very smoothly in Palm Springs. Most of Doug's family came down from the Bay Area, and we all mingled very happily together. All of us were vaccinated, but we ate at yet another relative's home.....some of whom were anti-vaxers, having our celebration outdoors just to be safe. 

Soon after everyone left we started getting into the Christmas spirit,

putting up lights, our advent wreath, my "wall tree", and our little makeshift manger scene.

But soon, Christmas became a whole other deal since the Omicron virus raised its stupid head. We decided instead, to cancel our plane reservations in order to reduce our risk of exposure, and drove up to the Bay Area, in tandem with son Matt and his daughter Ava, who had been visiting us for a couple of days. 

We stopped for the night in Bakersfield, and the next morning I was delighted to find a See's Candy store in town. One more thing to knock off my list of things to do. The line was uncomfortably long, and indoors, but everyone was masked and in a cheery, holiday mood, once we all inhaled the fine aroma of chocolate. We all started chatting together about our favorite pieces of candy we would include in our specially picked boxes, and all looked forward to the free pieces of candy we would receive at the end. The lady next to me in line had some sort of chronic lung condition, was coughing occasionally, and was very enthusiastic. I was happy she was masked because of Covid, but she alone impressed me when she ordered her boxes. She chose several pieces and then when they were almost full, she said to the masked, gloved and hair-netted See's lady, "Now just sprinkle the milk chocolate covered raisins all around to fill it in."    What?, I thought. then I realized...we're paying by the pound, not the piece! My boxes were all sealed, but next time....

 We listened to the news on the car radio, and as more and more Omicron cases were reported, our plans kept changing. What started out as a big family potluck on Christmas Eve at one of their homes, with all 5 of my husband's kids and the grandkids, and even my son flying in from New York, was evolving minute by minute. We had a Zoom meeting to get everyone's fears out on the table.

It was decided that we shouldn't all be inside in a house together eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and exchanging gifts.....so what to do? We talked to different ones on the phone as we drove. One family decided to bow out since they all had bad colds. Since it was scheduled to rain that day, it looked more and more like we were going to meet in a park under cover of pop-up tents, and order pizza for our Christmas Eve dinner. Ho Ho Ho! Sounds festive, eh? One son volunteered to bring a camp stove along to at least make the traditional hot mulled wine and hot cider, vowing to make this a special occasion no matter what.

We were supposed to stay with one of the families, but felt they wouldn't want to take any chances, so my sister, who we were already scheduled to spend Christmas morning with, along with my son, told us to come stay with her. Phew! Still on our drive up California, we got a call that my son's wife felt really ill and had just tested positive for Covid in New York! By the next morning, he decided he'd better not get on a plane after being exposed, and that they would just stay home and have Christmas together.

As we neared my sister's house, I told Doug that it would probably be reassuring to her and her husband if we used the Rapid Tests that we brought with us to show them that we were fine. Telling her of this plan, we asked that they leave the back door open so we could go directly to our room at the other end of the house. We'd see them in about 15 minutes. The house smelled wonderful, of something scrumptious cooking in the kitchen. 

The tests came two in a pack, and I did my test first, setting the little vial with its test strip in the one hole provided. In order to do Doug's test though, I picked up my vial and held it while his marinated the appropriate time, and set the alarms on our phones. I became antsy, the 10 minutes dragging on, and swirled the liquid around, tilting it a bit to see if I could see if a pink line was forming under the label. When my time was up, we said, "Drum roll!", and we're shocked to see that my test strip had a VERY pink line on it! "I'm positive! I can't believe it!", I said, "But I feel so good!" I sat on the side of the tub with my head in my hands worrying about what to do.

Doug's timer went off, and his had no sign of pink at all. Hmm. What to do? We had been joking that I would come out and announce that "I'm negative,......but the funny thing is, I'm pregnant!" That joke wouldn't work any more.

We came out and stood one room apart, hearing my niece say, "Here they come!" and "Uh-oh you're wearing masks!" We told them our news. My sister kept saying that she didn't believe the results. I got on the phone to try to get a Kaiser advice nurse to tell me where I could get a quick, official test, but was on hold for over a half an hour, finding out that the testing was being scheduled too far out and then wouldn't come back till another day.  By the time I reported back with my findings, still keeping my distance, my brother-in-law's sister was putting her jacket on, and announcing that she had to leave, (because of me), and my niece took her back to her hotel.

My sister suggested that I take another test, since I had two more, so we went back to the other end of the house to our room, and I re-read the instructions for the test. Hmm. It Did state that the vial must be kept still, so I swabbed the inside of my nose the appropriate way, put the vial in the holder, inserted the test strip as if I was a lab technician, and left the room to work on some of the gifts I had brought for people, adding some of the See's milk chocolate balls to some. When the timer went off, Doug and I stared at the strip together. No PINK! 

"We're FREE!!", we said, as we returned to the Christmas clad living room, holding a box of chocolates. "Evidently it was a false positive! Can we hug you now?"

Everything proceeded as planned then. Doug was pleased to find that the wonderful aroma we had smelled  when we arrived was a tender roast beef, and we visited and laughed and ate and drank, all happy to be together after all.

The next morning, Christmas Eve day, I thought I'd better use my last test, just to be able to reassure Doug's family. Very carefully, I repeated the steps, but was shocked to find a very faint pink line! The instructions stated that even if it was very light, it was counted as positive! "I feel fine though!", I repeated. My sister assured me that she could hardly see it, but I wondered about how Doug's family would react. We went ahead and the four of us ate breakfast together, choosing our fruit, yogurt and cereal, and little ginger scones, and making frothy warm milk for our coffee, comfortably sitting at the long table reading the two papers they have delivered. 

Turns out it didn't rain that day, and since we would be outside in the park, it looked like our party with Doug's kids would happen. Just to be prudent, I sent a text out to all five kids about my false positive test fiasco, and confessed that the last one that morning was a very faint pink. We packed up our gifts and headed off to Berkeley to pick up son John. Grace had said that she would bring along the calendars I had made and had delivered to her house. While we waited in the car, for John to come out with his gifts, we received two notices, that the other two girls' families didn't want to take the chance of being around me. John and Matt still wanted to get together, so we drove a few miles back to get the calendars and leave off gifts, all masked up. Doug was sad to see his family's party dwindling by the minute and I started feeling like a pariah, calling myself "Typhoid Patty".

John had Christmas spirit enough for all of us, with his festive sweater on, and gifts, candy, and alcohol on board. Time was a'wasting though, and we discussed with Matt on the way to Alameda about changing our venue to the Cinema Grill, a restaurant only one block from his place, since it was getting chilly and would be dark before you know it. While we were waiting for his family to come out, we took advantage of the time and each had a swallow of the whiskey that had been brought to make hot toddies with in the park. We drank to a wonderful Christmas celebration.

John, Matt, his two kids and two grandkids walked with us to the restaurant where we were kindly seated outside with heat lamps to keep us warm.

The food was great, but soon after we got it, the rain started coming down! The wait staff graciously brought us inside, where we were just about the only customers, to finish up. 

After dinner, we walked in the rain back to our Prius, to open the back hatch, which someone said looked like Santa's sleigh. We exchanged gifts as quickly as we could, in the drizzle, and went on our way. We dropped off John again in Berkeley, and then drove back out to Lafayette to spend the night, wondering if we should just drive on back to Palm Springs in the morning and not take a chance on infecting anyone. But then Lorraine told me that her son promised to bring me another rapid self-test when he and his family arrived for her traditional Christmas morning brunch. 

As folks began to arrive, we decided that we would stay at our end of the house again, just in case, thinking we might just be delegated to stay there during the whole party. The sister-in-law had decided to forego the crowd that day and come by herself later in the afternoon for a less chancy late breakfast. The new test arrived, and I very carefully read and re-read the instructions. I could hear my little great-grandnieces had arrived and were happily running around with little toy puppies on leashes, squealing and laughing. While I timed the test with my iPhone, I kept putting the finishing touches on gifts for Lorraine's kids and grandkids.....should I be allowed to hand them out.

This seemed like a better quality test, and once again, we both looked at the results together. No pink line! No line at all! Brunch was starting to be served, and I came out waving my happy results, teary eyed. Everyone believed it, and we were welcomed at the happy table, our plates full of frittata, ham, fruit, and homemade cinnamon rolls. 

Next was the opening of gifts around the beautiful tree, and then in to the living room, each getting a red stocking full of thoughtful gifts from Lorraine and Bill.

My Christmas traditions had been met, but Doug still yearned for more time with his kids. We decided to drive back to the Bay Area and distribute the family calendars and a few more gifts to them. Met outside with masks on again, he got to get a little more family fix for himself.

While we were gone it was a good time for Lorraine's sister-in-law to have her lost meal, and we kept to our room till she was gone, to make her feel better. It was decided that we would stay one more day, and drive home when there should be less traffic, just resting after our ordeal. Once again the four of us sat around the table reading the papers, and eating yummy leftover frittata and ham for breakfast. 

Lorraine and I talked about how happy we were that the two of us decided to see each other this year, no matter what, and laughed that all of us had polished off both 1 pound boxes of chocolates. We've lost our other two sisters in the last few years, and we needed to hug and hear each other laugh. These days, you never know..... 

After a teary farewell, we decided to take the coastal route and headed for Doug's favorite spot for the night, Morro Bay. When we arrived, it turns out that all the power was out in the little town, and if there's no power in the seafood restaurants and hotels.....well.  We moved on down the road to San Luis Obispo, where we settled on eating at the Denny's that was next door. Not exactly what we had hoped for. In the morning, I looked online and found the Cowgirl Cafe for breakfast, just to make up for last night's dinner and see a little of the local color. This relaxing morning caused us to get off later than we had planned.

The entire drive along the coast had been gorgeous, emphasized by the fact that it had been so long since we had seen the ocean, but eventually you have to turn east to get to Palm Springs. That's when the rain started up, it began to get dark early, and we ran into the LA traffic. With the windshield wipers flapping as fast as they would go, we felt we were almost home. Our Prius was allowed in the fast lane, and after we passed the tall, familiar Morongo Hotel, suddenly the special lane veered off to the left, with tall berms on both sides. The rain was pelting down, and our lights couldn't see very far in front of us! I gripped the steering wheel tightly, and kept talking out loud about how nervous I was, like, "How long do you think this alleyway goes on? It's hard for me to see!", I'm sure giving Doug great confidence in my driving. He didn't help me by saying, "This is like we are a bullet going down the barrel of a rifle!"

Finally our terror was over, and we were let out into the normal stream of traffic, and saw the exit for Palm Springs. Thank you God!! We were so happy to see our solar Christmas lights welcoming us as we drove down our street, and went inside our little cottage-like trailer and turned on the heater. It was time to put on our jammies, have a celebratory drink, make a quick dinner, and turn on our usual SkyNews. Everything was back to normal. 

Here's to a "normal" and healthy New Year to all of you!