Christmas continued

Christmas Eve now, and we're enjoying a log fire tonight. It's raining instead of snowing, as would be more usual, but nothing's normal this year, and 8°C outside, as predicted. Another abnormality was my forgetting to listen in the service of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge, but in any case that wouldn't have been the same because no congregation was admitted, due to the British lock downs.

In London and Sydney our grandsons are showing signs of excitement. The Australians are already in the afternoon, so we had Eddie showing us the presents he'd opened, the chocolates he was eating and the paper hats he was colouring-in. He was glad to tell us that Santa had not only taken the snacks left out for him and his "reindeers," but had even left a thank-you note. On the other side of the world, in London, we watched Alex, the 14-year-old, stretching up to show us how he could touch the ceiling these days, and Thomas putting the unopened Christmas presents into individual piles, so that the family would know whose were whose. We'll see them again tomorrow.

Emma bought me a baobab sapling, hoping that it will grow to maturity once out of its nursery near the village of Matsangoni, in Kenya, and sequester a good deal of carbon. I was delighted with this gift, which my daughter has called "Canadian Hope". I can find the place where it grows on Google Earth and perhaps watch its progress. Emma bought another such tree for herself. We're encouraged to buy a forest!

For Chris, we have acquired a treadmill today.  He bribed the delivery men quite generously to ensure that this heavy, bulky object reached our basement safely. It said in the installation manual that it would take 40 minutes to erect. More like two hours actually. I refrained from taking a blood pressure reading either during or after the construction process. It was a success at last, however, and he ran on it, so that's good.