The Christmas of the Winter Blast

Thanks to the Arctic blast that hit most of the country, yesterday was not only the coldest day of the year, it was one of the coldest days on record here in North Carolina. We woke up on Christmas Eve morning to no electricity; thankfully, it was restored after a couple of hours. Due to excessive power usage, Duke Energy began emergency rolling blackouts over the course of the day; fortunately, after that first morning outage, we didn't get hit with another one.

Today wasn't as cold as yesterday, though one could hardly call it warm. The high temperature didn't even reach freezing. Still, despite us keeping the inside temperature relatively low, Brugger and I stayed reasonably warm by bundling up and smushing with cats. Once we were out of bed and moving about, we set about preparing our Christmas dinner — turkey, roasted carrots, and Brugger's proprietary stuffing. It might have been less elaborate than some of our big family meals from days past, but it was without question one of the best I've had in I don't know how long. Between us, we basically got everything perfect, accompanied by a nice Pinot Noir.

We gave each other a slew of gifts, all of which I loved. Most appreciated was a new addition to the Toho daikaiju figures I've been picking up on occasion. Back in the 1980s, I collected anything and everything Godzilla, kith and kin, but since then, collecting of any sort has fallen by the wayside. However, a year or so ago, I got it into my head I'd like to snag the occasional Godzilla figure — as long as it was relatively inexpensive. (I've got to tell you, it's almost unbelievable how expensive some of the really nice monster figures are.) Anyway, there's a handful of monster sets by Mezco to which I took a shine, and, today, Brugger did her part to help me add to them. Eventually, I'll set up them up in some kind of honest-to-god display, but for now, they're hanging out on the shelves wherever I can find available space.

After our little Christmas celebration, Ms. B. and I packed up and headed to Martinsville to visit with Allison and share some gifts with her. There were a couple of newish geocaches to stop for along the way, which is kind of a rarity these days, so I enjoyed taking advantage of the opportunity to grab them. Now, I do not exaggerate when I say that, gift-wise, Allison's fur baby Cannoli may have made out best of all. What an excited little dude! We brought along the remainder of our Christmas Eve chili for dinner, and after enjoying it, we spent a little time with friend and Fugue Devil: Resurgence publisher Samaire Wynne. Nice company and nice refreshments.

Since Mom and my brother passed away, for me, the whole dynamic of Christmas has changed rather radically. I can't deny a certain sense of melancholy, now that I'm the last of the family I'd known all my life. But I would not change the new traditions that Ms. B. and I have created together for anything in the world. Although my Christmas spirit, such as it as, may not be full of the exuberance I once experienced — even as an adult — the somewhat quieter, more contemplative atmosphere, combined with moments of rip-roaring fun and comedy, suits me as much as anything ever has or could have.

I hope your holiday season is full of warmth, wonderful memories, and lots of love.

And why the hell not? Here's a few shots of the critters that have moved into the house in recent days.