A sign in Frankfurt airport after we arrived from the US ... ours was one of the only flights checking in, and there was NO ONE ahead of us at international security as we checked in for our flight. Felt really eerie. ... The UEFA European championship is going on right now, and seating apparently is really limited in some places like Munich, but tonight we saw footage from Hungary where the stadium was totally packed. Unsurprising with Orban in charge. Later this evening on TV we saw an hour of performances from the Elbjazz festival earlier this month, and one of the performers was quoted talking about how great it feels to finally be playing live again -- but we couldn't tell from the broadcast whether there was an audience there or not. I'm thinking no. ...
June 23, 2021
I am writing this on Thanksgiving Day, 2020. This week the pandemic primarily impacted Thanksgiving, and how we decided to celebrate the holiday. My husband and I just finished our Thanksgiving dinner for 2. We spent the day preparing it, and really enjoyed ourselves. I must admit, we were pleased with how it turned out. I was also reflecting on last Thanksgiving and how different this year is. Last year we hosted 13 people and 3 dogs. Our house was full of people, dogs and good cheer. We have a video of everyone at the table, busy talking and laughing. It was a truly wonderful and memorable day. This day was memorable, too, in a much smaller and quieter way. I do look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving again with our extended family, especially our children. However, I feel like we made the best of the situation this year, staying safe and keeping others safe, as well. One last note. I really missed my father today. He died 2 months ago. Although we didn't spend Thanksgiving with him since my mother died 7 years ago, I always spoke to him on Thanksgiving and we exchanged cooking tips and how the food came out. He was a really difficult person who could become enraged very quickly. I do not miss that part of him at all. However, when engaged around food and cooking, we could have nice conversations, especially when he was sharing tips with me. He made the best stuffing ever - pictured above. He always added apples, raisins and nuts. I hadn't had it in a long time but I found the recipe he dictated to me about 1 year after my mother died. I followed his recipe today, and it was almost as good as his It felt like a little bit of his good side was with us today.
November 27, 2020