Gifts From the Godz
The best laid plans demolished by influenza A. The solstice celebration and the Yule gathering and all the baking and preparation -- out the door. No family is arriving, no happy cheer, just sitting on the sofa sleeping through the middle bits of mediocre movies showing on Netflix, face timing with the Grands because they can't be here while the virus swirls around the house, and definitely throw in a little bit of self-pity and pouting, because that's here too.
Today is also the five-year anniversary of my sweet and salty mum's passing.
I lit candles for solstice, gave the ancestors some mead and chocolates, and will be baking (from a premix) oatmeal cookies with a smear of butter for the Tomte and the house spirits. There is a turkey in the oven, and possibly a double chocolate pie being whipped up later, but that's it. I'm afraid to wrap gifts because I may shed virus into them. It's a bit of a depressing mess right now.
As my son Lewis said, "This sucks."
This morning, as per my now normal routine, I got up and put Charlie on the back porch to do her morning evacuation. When I came back to get her, she was sitting on the welcome mat with something very odd dangling from her mouth. She wasn't chewing it, she was just holding it, this weird little object that I couldn't see very well because I didn't have on my glasses. I plucked the thing from her mouth and upon closer inspection realized I was holding the lower half of a gopher's face. Yep, snout, whiskers, lips and teeth. I must have washed my hands 10 times after that. That wee gift on the welcome mat came from our semi-feral cat, Mr. Licorice. It appears he was pleased with the love and snuggles he received late last night, so he rewarded our attention with a special present. Cats have the strangest ways of showing love. I'm appreciative of his affections, but also a little grossed out.
Student submissions of finished perfumes are coming in, and one in particular has really blown my mind. It's a study on citrus and incense and smells so perfect. It also arrived with certifications from a lab. Very professional, some of these students we have at the Academy. They impress me more and more with each course we teach.
Home care during this wee epidemic of influenza A has included sage burning, lots of ibuprofen, lots of sparkling water, buckets of Vitamin C, and sleep. It would be almost cozy if not for the nausea and dizziness.
Today is also the five-year anniversary of my sweet and salty mum's passing.
I lit candles for solstice, gave the ancestors some mead and chocolates, and will be baking (from a premix) oatmeal cookies with a smear of butter for the Tomte and the house spirits. There is a turkey in the oven, and possibly a double chocolate pie being whipped up later, but that's it. I'm afraid to wrap gifts because I may shed virus into them. It's a bit of a depressing mess right now.
As my son Lewis said, "This sucks."
This morning, as per my now normal routine, I got up and put Charlie on the back porch to do her morning evacuation. When I came back to get her, she was sitting on the welcome mat with something very odd dangling from her mouth. She wasn't chewing it, she was just holding it, this weird little object that I couldn't see very well because I didn't have on my glasses. I plucked the thing from her mouth and upon closer inspection realized I was holding the lower half of a gopher's face. Yep, snout, whiskers, lips and teeth. I must have washed my hands 10 times after that. That wee gift on the welcome mat came from our semi-feral cat, Mr. Licorice. It appears he was pleased with the love and snuggles he received late last night, so he rewarded our attention with a special present. Cats have the strangest ways of showing love. I'm appreciative of his affections, but also a little grossed out.
Student submissions of finished perfumes are coming in, and one in particular has really blown my mind. It's a study on citrus and incense and smells so perfect. It also arrived with certifications from a lab. Very professional, some of these students we have at the Academy. They impress me more and more with each course we teach.
Home care during this wee epidemic of influenza A has included sage burning, lots of ibuprofen, lots of sparkling water, buckets of Vitamin C, and sleep. It would be almost cozy if not for the nausea and dizziness.
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