Covid Journal, Day 260: Inching Up On It

38 again this morning, gray and cold. The sun peaked out later in the afternoon but the chill remained. High humidity.

I am trying, like many others, to get ready for Christmas. Why does it seem so hard this year? 

Our tree, viewed from outside. Don't say anything about the crazy lights! That's Larry's doing, and I am curbing my OCD tendencies to want to make them all straight. He's happy with them, so why should I complain?

But I did get our tree up and the lights working, so that was a big accomplishment in my book. I still have to get the ornaments on, that will be one of tomorrow's tasks.

And I soaked the fruitcakes with brandy again, their second coating. They'll be ready to eat by the 24th. Well, actually, we've eaten two of them already. They were not ready, for sure, needed more soaking, but still delicious. 

This is actually one of last year's fruitcakes in the photo. We have two left, and they are beautifully cured. They will be beyond delicious when we finally cut into them.

Our youngest son is coming home from Miami for Christmas and we are so excited. He will get tested before he leaves there, and we'll be taking all the safety precautions we can. We haven't seen him for a year, and really miss him. His sweet wife urged him to come home--she will be with her family in Orlando. She said it's important for a man to be with his parents alone sometimes. I really appreciate her and her willingness to be apart from him for the holiday. Tommy hasn't been home for Christmas since...I can't remember. Probably 2011?

I miss the old-fashioned Christmas candy. Do you remember ribbon candy, and those little tube-shaped ones with a flower design in the white middle? Filled raspberry, striped oblong candies of different colors and flavors, root beer barrels, creme drops, peanut clusters, peppermints, and so many others. There was a feed store in our county seat that stocked them all, in bulk, and people from all over the county came to buy by the bagsful. We know, of course, that all that candy was bad for us. Especially in West Virginia, where diabetes is almost an epidemic. I loved to put ribbon candy and those filled raspberries and other hard candy out in candy jars over the holidays. They were so pretty, some of them almost works of art. 

These days, I buy a few candy canes, and get one small box of chocolate covered cherries for Larry, and that's about the extent of our Christmas candy. Maybe this year I'll try my hand at making some hard candy. Cinnamon, I think, and maybe peppermint. It would be nice to have on hand for sore throats, right? 

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