“What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December’s bareness everywhere!”
By William Shakespeare
Thank goodness it has not been too cold. We turn down the heat when we are not home. I can tell by how long it takes to get the house warm again how cold it actually was. Our geraniums on the front porch are still doing fairly well. Louie, our outdoor cat, has been sleeping in a custom-made bedroom. Hubby took a tomato box (12” by 15” and 8” high) and cut a hole so Louie could get inside. To entice him to go inside, we threw in a few kitty treats. Within a few minutes, he was snoozing inside the box. Hubby lined it with an old kitchen towel and one of his old tee shirts. Each morning, Louie comes out from his box to eat.
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People are beginning to decorate for Christmas. Our neighbors, the Cullitys, were outside their home on Sunday putting up their Christmas decorations. Theirs is an inflatable scene with Pluto pulling a toboggan of Disney characters. On the sled are Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, a bag of toys, baby Minnie Mouse, and, finally, a Christmas tree. It is so cute. Down the street from that cute Disney decoration, we McDonoughs still have our electric turkey on our rose trellis. We’ll get up our Christmas decorations some day this week, I hope. By the way, Lambert’s, on Morrissey Blvd., received its first shipment of Christmas trees just before Thanksgiving.
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Last Sunday, Hubby, daughter Sue, and I were on the road to Brandeis University in Waltham. Our daughter–in-Law Alex had invited us to hear her and other members of the University Chorus in concert. Since we weren’t too sure of the area, we asked Sue to drive. It was not the best of afternoons, with light drizzle. We found Brandeis quite easily. We were impressed by the beautiful campus. After one failed attempt to find the Slosberg Recital Hall, we drove up another driveway and practically pulled into the lobby of the hall. We were almost late, so we had to sit in the second row. We were happy because Alex came in with the rest of the chorus and stood just to our left. We were hoping that she saw us.
We discovered that there were two groups singing that day: the Brandeis Chamber Choir and the University Chorus. The conductor for both groups was Robert Duff. The piano accompanists were Matthew Anderson and John Sullivan (with red hair.) The title for the concert was: “For the Beauty of the Earth.” Although we did not recognize the music, we knew some of the lyrics. Thank goodness I had taken six years of Latin many years ago, so I understood many of the words and much of the “Church Latin” in the latter part of the concert. The concert lasted just about one and a half hours.
It took the crowd quite a little time to leave the hall at the end of the concert, so the lobby was filled with people by the time we came out. Whom did I see but Alex’s Mom Sara. It had been a while since I had seen her and she looked positively wonderful. Alex then joined us and introduced the three of us to her voice coach. We spoke with Alex and her Mom for a few minutes. Alex told us that our son Paul was home with a bad cold . We were sorry to hear that. Sara presented Alex with a lovely bouquet of flowers. We wished everyone a safe trip home. We made it home in fairly quick time.
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Mea Culpa! I am sorry that I spelled Ruth Villard’s name incorrectly in last week’s column. I am a rotten typist. Over the years, I have heard that my mother was an exceptionally good typist. Sad to say, that gene was not passed down to me.
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Thanksgiving was a new experience for us this year. With Cousin Carolyn accepting an invitation from friends and daughter Jeanne remodeling her kitchen, Hubby, daughter Sue, and I discussed our holiday dinner options. Our first thought was to go to Boston Market on Morrissey Blvd. We have always been happy with the meals we have purchased there. We agreed to be ready to go at noon. While watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday morning, Sue checked her email and saw that the Old Country Buffet was also serving Thanksgiving dinner. She decided to call their Walpole restaurant to see what time they opened. (When Niece Terri lived in Attleboro, she would meet us for dinner halfway, at the Buffet in Walpole.) Thank goodness Sue decided to call, because she found out that the restaurant had closed. After a quick search, she found the closest Buffet was in Watertown, across from the Arsenal Mall. When Ann & Hope was open at the Arsenal, we would make weekly trips to there. Since it closed at least a decade ago, we have rarely visited the area. Not knowing how the traffic would be, we decided to leave the house at 11:30 a.m.
Once again, Sue got behind the wheel to bring us to our destination. The Expressway was busy, but the Mass. Pike was nearly empty en route to Watertown. We arrived at the restaurant fairly quickly. The restaurant was somewhat crowded when we entered. We found an empty table close to the food. As usual, we started at the salad bar. We always comment on their great selection of salad items, including beets, broccoli, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and cheese. The salads are so good, that we have to remind ourselves to leave room for the main course. They did not disappoint. The buffet was serving turkey, ham, and roast beef at the carving station. In chafing dishes were the sides and other entrees. The three of us tried nearly every item available: orange chicken, pizza, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, baked beans, mac & cheese, both beef and turkey gravy, chicken noodle soup, pasta, cornbread stuffing, carrots, rice, dinner rolls, and baked fish.
After sitting a few minutes to digest, Hubby and Sue decided it was time to try the desserts. Hubby returned first with a cone of chocolate and vanilla soft serve. Sue returned to the table with a small metal dish containing warm apple crisp topped with vanilla soft serve. I sampled a bit of both desserts. Off they went again and returned with different desserts: a cone of orange and vanilla soft serve for Hubby and a dish of orange soft serve for Sue. Again, we needed time to digest.
Celebrating a holiday at the Old Country Buffet is something we would definitely do again. The food was plentiful and the price was great. We also found that the other restaurant patrons were in exceptionally good spirits. One particular woman, who was sitting at an adjacent table, stopped to chat with us each time she passed our table on her way to the food. Although we never did get her name, we learned that her husband worked at Bentley University. We were sure to stop at her table before leaving to say our good-byes. We received a great big kiss.
We originally felt sad that we were not with any of the family on Thanksgiving. We figured that we would just eat and go home. (Sue had made a chocolate pudding pie.) Although the Buffet was crowded, we found some lovely people with whom we chatted.
The seniors were especially nice. I turned out to be a very nice dinner. I had worried about son Paul but he had called and told us that Alex’s Mom had invited both of them to Thanksgiving dinner at her place. They had a great time. Alex had to drive Paul home after the meal so he could rest from his terrible cold. She then went back to her Mom’s residence and spent the rest of the day with her. It turned out to be a much better day than we had thought being alone. The food was great. The service was excellent and our new friends were wonderful.
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A radio hint: Morgan White Jr. will have Mel Simons on his WBZ-radio show this Saturday evening (Dec. 5), from 10 p.m. to midnight. I love listening to the two of them.
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This past Saturday, Fr. George reminded us that it was the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new church year. Sr. Elizabeth had given each of us a copy of “The Little Blue Book, for Advent and Christmas Seasons, 2015-2016.” I keep the little book next to my bed and read the short prayer for that day, just before I turn out the light.
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Good luck finding your Christmas decorations and getting them up, especially with the cold weather. Hubby has several cups of hot coffee putting up the lights outside the house.
