Since we are now back at home, as retirees, life is not at exciting as when we are traveling. Add Covid and Omicron to the mixture, and life is much more limited. We go grocery shopping and visit various doctors, dentists, and massage therapists. Oh what fun! We have started to volunteer for the local Meals on Wheels program. It is conducted out of the Auburn Senior Center, which is quite active. We have learned a route that delivers to 20 stops, grouped into two areas in the town of Auburn. I drive the car, and Peter hops out with the meals and delivers them. It is also a check in on these mostly elderly and incapacitated folks. It feels good to be doing something helpful.
Peter took an overnight trip to NYC with his daughter, Kaitlyn. He had fun. I drove them to the Providence train station, and they took the train into the city. Much better than driving in that city.
I spent a lot of time preparing my Holiday letter, and cards, with the photo collages of each grandchild and each family grouping. I also had printed off 5x7's of each grandchild and various 4x6's of each family member and groups for my refrigerator. That took awhile--to go through the last year's photos that I have taken and pick out the ones I wanted to use. But, it was a nice way to review our year.
Peter and I try to walk everyday, if the weather is good enough (over 30 degrees and not raining or snowing). However, since we are not traveling, we have decided to try to find interesting local hiking trails to discover and walk. We went back to one we found earlier in the year -- the Arbutus trail in nearby Sturbridge. A very nice 2 mile loop trail, through woods and by a few ponds. and streams.
We went to a nice Xmas lunch given by the Accounting firm that Peter does tax consulting for. It was in Dorchester, right on the ocean, in a nice marina. It turns out, they can't find tax accountants to hire, so they have asked me to do tax season tax prep for them. I told them I am retired, and do not want the pressure of tax seasons, but would be willing to do 20 hours/week of tax prep, remotely, for them. So, we'll see how that goes. It is good money.
Claire came over and helped me put up the Xmas tree and decorate the house. Thank goodness for her, as it wouldn't have been done so thoroughly otherwise.
Anica, Quinn and Owen came over to make our traditional holiday cinnamon rolls. Is it so nice to carry on this tradition that we started when my kids were young. With the added benefit of getting to eat those yummy rolls. We made enough to send two pans home with Anica, and one each for Claire and Tamara. Then, the kids helped me to decorate the Xmas tree. They also helped put up some holiday window stickers.
We have decided to buy an electric car! Since we mostly travel locally, and since we have a credit on our electric bill from our contract with a solar farm, we decided to go electric. After doing some research, we decided to buy the VW ID.4 Pro -- an SUV, all-wheel drive car, with all of the fancy features that my Subaru Outback already has. Also, it can go 260 miles on a charge. Unfortunately, it takes 3 - 6 months to get it. So, our order is "in the queue".
Then, after a bit of a debate, we found out that the Subaru dealer will give us a lot of money to trade in our current Outback for a new one. We weren't going to do that originally, but since our current one now has 106,000 miles on it, after using it to travel and do the sightseeing all around the country, now is the best time to trade it in. None of the dealers have new cars on their lots and used cars are going for big bucks. So, this new one will only be used for longer distance trips, so should last us a long time. Unfortunately, this one too is on a wait list, and will take 1 - 2 months to get.
For the first time, we streamed a concert and watched it on our big screen TV. It was like being there in the front rows. Ian's sister is in a vocal band called Windborn, which performed Celtic music on the Celtic Sojourn Xmas show. Some great music and dancing. We really enjoyed it.
On Christmas Eve, Peter's daughter, Kaitlyn and her friend, Lynn came over to visit and exchange presents. Then, we had Xmas day gathering. Unfortunately, Mike tested positive for Covid the day before, so Tamara's family could not come. Then, Aaron had a bad migraine, so Anica's family couldn't come either. But Claire & Ian, and Scott, Amy and Adelle came. We had a very nice game day Christmas.
We went to Anica's house the next day, to deliver presents and had a nice visit. We also delivered to them the presents from Claire & Ian, so we did a Zoom call with Claire, so she could watch them open her gifts. Then, the next day, we traveled to Tamara's house, and dropped their presents off. We all just chatted a bit, us on their doorstep and them in their mud room. Fortunately, Mike was doing very well with his Covid infection.
On New Year's Eve day, it was quite mild, so we discovered a new hiking trail in nearby Auburn. As it turns out, the trail ended in a huge meadow, that went along a stream. Surprisingly, the other side of the stream was a road along a trailer park where we deliver Meals on Wheels. When delivering to those trailers, we always thought that the other side of the stream looked really inviting.
Finally, on New Year's Eve night, we had a nice family Zoom call. And, Peter and I even made it to midnight, before kissing a New Year's greeting and turning off the lights.
HAPPY NEW YEARS, 2022.
Some December 2021 photos:
Arbutus Trail photos:
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