On being merry

I had an Amazon return, and the supermarket is next door to the UPS drop-off, so Dale and I made an adventure of it. Who said I wasn’t merry? When we arrived at the UPS store, there was a line. You know, holidays and all that.

But I was chill. The guys who run that store are fantastic. Fast and friendly. I even said something to Dale about not minding the line because I knew it would be easy. We were merrily chit-chatting, when all of the sudden a 30ish-looking woman standing in front of me whipped around, long red hair flying, and she said in the nastiest voice possible, “Is there a reason you are standing so close to me?”

I started to say sure, yeah, excited about the line and all that or maybe trying to get closer so I can sniff you out, but instead I said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was too close.”

Still snarling, she said, “Well, it’s just a little weird.”

My aren’t we testy! Yes, I said that in my outside voice. She repeated that it was weird. Again, I apologized and thanked her for pointing out my mistake. Then I started humming Psycho Killer because she probably didn’t know who the Talking Heads were anyway. Those young folks.

I was at the counter as she left the store, hollering out in her mean-girl voice, “Have a nice day, ma’am.”

Well, that was a bit much. Let’s just say my merry meter was not pegged.

So, food. Thank goodness we have food. I’m avoiding raw milk, because that’s what sane people do, but there is still much to be enjoyed. Yesterday I made a loaf of sourdough, and we had some of that with beef stew from the freezer. Oh, and sourdough toast this morning. Generously buttered with Kerrygold and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. Coffee. Black.

But we need more gluten, drill sergeant! Tonight I’ll make the dough for an overnight no-knead rye bread. Pro tip: substitute pickle juice for some or all of the water. That gets baked in the morning, and then I will get started on cabbage rolls. We use bison instead of beef. And this time I have homemade tomato sauce I froze at the end of the summer, so I’m expecting big things.

We usually watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy this time of year, and I’m thinking the first episode should roll out with dinner tomorrow. I always feel so sorry for Frodo, such a burden he carried, but I might feel sort of Hobbit-like with my stuffed cabbage, homemade rye bread slathered with butter and a tankard of beer.

Dale bought our roast beef today. A three-rib roast from the lean end. He puts it on a rack in the refrigerator to dry-age until Christmas. I’ve already made plum pudding for dessert. It’s all wrapped up and also aging, but on pantry shelf not the fridge.

And then there’s the tree. I’m usually opposed because I’m such a grinch, and it’s one less thing to do, but this year I said fuck it. Let’s be merry! And I will confess, merry doesn’t come cheap. I think Dale said it was almost $250. I told him he’d better put it up quick so we can at least get our cost-per-day down to a reasonable level.

The tree is in the garage but coming in today. In the spirit of being merry, I volunteered to unpack the decorations. We have boatloads of adorable hand-made wooden ornaments from when we were in Germany. Dale’s favorite, of course, is Santa riding a bomb. And I’m OK with that.

May your merry meters be pegged!