Snow of any substance has yet to arrive on the ridge. I don’t mind, we have through April to collect all of our snow here, so there is plenty of time. Each day that we are not buried is another day outdoor tasks can be tended with ease. I’ve yet to pull up the stakes in the garden and would like to take care of that. I still need to mulch the garlic. Yesterday, new internet was installed, and with satellite being our only option here, we have a new wire that must be buried between the barn and the house. It cannot wait until spring as it runs right through one of our plow lines. Little things that may not seem terribly pressing, yet knowing we still have a few days to punch the list is helpful. 

This morning I’ll drive our daughter to the airport and we won’t see her until sometime in January. Work is taking her to Georgia for the senate runoffs, which in a normal year would find her zipping home for Christmas (and her Christmas Eve birthday), but that is not an option in 2020. She’ll hunker down in warm Savannah and we’ll send her one hundred photos of a white Christmas. It is disappointing, but isn’t disappointment relative at this point? I recall one particular Easter of my childhood when my grandmother was hospitalized; we all wanted to be with her, not home stubbornly preparing our usual Easter dinner dictated by tradition. It just didn't work that year. I think my mom and her sisters felt bad for us kids, plucked from our usual customs, but as for me, my sister, and our cousins, we remember it as the fun year we had Chinese takeout for Easter dinner, plunked coins into hospital vending machines for sugary treats, and spent the day with Mema. 

I guess when I think about the upcoming holidays, it does not feel like the time for me to wallow in one more thing not taking place in 2020, but to appreciate the fact that our little family has deeply rooted traditions worth missing. How cool is that? I can’t complain too much that my daughter is in Georgia when I know too many people going into this season with their loved ones no longer on this earth. Sure, it’ll be a little sad, but we’ll celebrate in January when she returns. We’ve already decided on our holiday mashup dinner: our traditional Christmas prime rib with all of the Thanksgiving sides (we usually have different Christmas side dishes), Christmas Eve birthday cake for dessert, and New Years champagne for sipping. That doesn’t sound too shabby. 

Adam and I will still carry on our traditions with just the two of us, because we are able to and we should! Emily will have a balmy southern Christmas with coworkers who are in the same boat. I imagine that just as she did with her college roommates, she will gain the reputation among coworkers as being the one to bring a live sparkly tree into the office or house. 

Things will be different this year, but they will be memorable. And isn’t there something so fitting about packing up 2020 in a totally upside down kind of way. 

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I have been working on something new for many months now, and I am ready to share it with you. Welcome to Hearth & Home. There were some early peeks on Instagram that are fun to check out, they can be found under #northridgefarmhearthandhome. You can join anytime!