The vacation extended itself right into the annual Journey Across the Eastern SeaboardTM.
This fine New Year’s Evening we’re sitting in front of a fire in Vermont at her in-laws, sipping some red wine, and watching the rain come down, putting a bit of a damper on the bonfire.
When last we left you, loyal readers and friends, Mrs Martial and I were on our way to Paris and Copenhagen for a few days of fun by our own selves before the deluge of family obligations.
Paris was a pure pleasure, an indulgence of a long-standing desire to travel together to the city of light. We both had been to Paris, but never together. Indeed, the last time for both of us had been fifteen long years ago, on the cusp of adulthood, and, coincidentally, we were there at the same time. This, however, was years even before we knew one another and began to share our love and our lives. Of course we needed to return, to raise two glasses and imbibe a small draught of what it was to be young and in Paris. We also went to see a city changed by the intervening years - as we have been - and grown strange to our younger selves, but no less magnificent.
Copenhagen paid for Paris (in part; my travel certainly). I had meetings there and a workshop. Denmark’s capital is a city I love, while Mrs Martial had never been. I was able to share the perfect walks, the holiday bustle, the pure love of style. She was able to convince me to actually enter into museums, to attend concerts, to finally visit Tivoli!
We returned to the land of our birth in good spirits, picked up our loyal and precious dog from her boarding house, whirled through our offices for a brief appearance, and set out to visit both sets of in-laws – and all family members in between.
The holidays have been celebrated with wine and song, feasts both sweet and savory, lengthy winter naps, and a nearly (though not totally) complete absence of news.
In a few moments I’ll get up to check the roast and refill my glass.
May your New Year be filled with love and joy. May it bring hope and a helping hand to the suffering. And may this New Year be one of peace.
Posted by Martial