From e123b3c38ee7e1a272290621af026e89664c02e4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eryn Wells Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2025 10:44:13 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] blog: Christmas in Massachusetts --- .../bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg | 3 + .../bluey-green-door.jpg | 3 + .../christmas-in-massachusetts/bowling.jpg | 3 + .../erin-snowballs.jpg | 3 + .../2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/index.md | 117 ++++++++++++++++++ .../2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/minot.jpg | 3 + .../old-brigade.jpg | 3 + .../christmas-in-massachusetts/sand-hills.jpg | 3 + .../snow-friend.jpg | 3 + 9 files changed, 141 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-green-door.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bowling.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/erin-snowballs.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/index.md create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/minot.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/old-brigade.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/sand-hills.jpg create mode 100644 content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/snow-friend.jpg diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9dc868a --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:1d3444135aab32635f480ee8ca4a6797821ff9b6f0f68e51aa4dd0f9b5d6383e +size 3407880 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-green-door.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-green-door.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83d88a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bluey-green-door.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:5c17df7d3f75b0f3b18f9b5d73c1aa63b54ce5d856742f7121f4b9e9c8632e54 +size 3836629 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bowling.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bowling.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ae2121 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/bowling.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:19005c6eb5ef6da85eafcfe5abc92cff98bd4a7b53156fee94204f0e100db359 +size 1129641 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/erin-snowballs.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/erin-snowballs.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c7a73f --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/erin-snowballs.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:3e171f8b999e0af9bf949e391397a78ef6c7dd34bffa127c62f78ad57917f185 +size 2557799 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/index.md b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f77a69 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,117 @@ +--- +title: "Christmas in Massachusetts" +description: This year, I spent Christmas with Tess and Erin in Massachusetts. +date: 2024-12-25 +resources: + - src: snow-friend.jpg + title: The tiniest snow friend + - src: erin-snowballs.jpg + title: Erin making snowballs + - src: minot.jpg + title: Minot Light sits on an undersea ledge far out from shore + - src: sand-hills.jpg + title: The sea wall along Sand Hills Beach, where Tess spent many summers + - src: bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg + title: Heading into the Heeler's living room with Auntie Kathleen + - src: bluey-green-door.jpg + title: Waiting to go through the secret door! + - src: bowling.jpg + title: Erin's first game of candlepin bowling + - src: old-brigade.jpg + title: Danny (on the center mic) and the Old Brigade at Fox & Hound in Quincy, MA +tags: + - Holidays + - Christmas + - Family + - Tess + - Erin + - Candlepin Bowling + - Massachusetts +--- + +This year, {{< tess >}}, Erin, and I traveled to Massachusetts to spend +Christmas with Tess' family. This was my first year spending Christmas away from +my family in Arizona, and my first with Tess and Erin. + +One of my hopes for Christmas in a cold place was to see some snow. As luck +would have it, I woke up on Christmas Eve to find a light dusting! Erin and I +couldn't help ourselves: we rushed outside to make a few snowballs and the +tiniest snow man you've ever seen. + +{{< 2col >}} + {{< figures/image name=erin-snowballs.jpg >}} + {{< figures/image name=snow-friend.jpg >}} +{{< /2col >}} + +We opened presents and had a lazy Christmas morning. We had dinner at Tess' +parents' house, and then went over for Christmas dessert at her cousin's house +-- a truly massive family event with many extended family members attending. + +The next day, Tess and I went "down harbor" for lunch and a little walk around. +We stopped at [Lucky Finn](https://www.luckyfinncafe.com) for a coffee, and Tess +took me around to see some of her old summer stomping grounds. I asked her to +help me get a good view of [Minot Light][minot], but it turns out it's really +damn far out so I only managed a little speck on the horizon. + +{{< 2col >}} + {{< figures/image name=minot.jpg >}} + {{< figures/image name=sand-hills.jpg >}} +{{< /2col >}} + +On Friday, Tess, Erin, and I went candlepin bowling at [Alley Kat +Lane][alleykat] in Kingston. Despite some initial hesitation, Erin had a lot of +fun. It was my first time at candlepin bowling too, and I found it really fun! +Harder than "big ball" bowling, but also more approachable because of the +lighter, smaller ball. The opportunities to strategize how to use the fallen +pins to your advantage add an interesting element too. + +{{< 2col >}} + {{< figures/image name=bluey-erin-kathleen.jpg >}} + {{< figures/image name=bluey-green-door.jpg >}} +{{< /2col >}} + +On Saturday, Tess, Kathleen, and I took Erin to an immersive [Bluey camp][bluey] +in Burlington. She had a great time building a fort out of the big cushy +oversized "blocks" in Bluey and Bingo's playroom. + +{{< 2col >}} + {{< figures/image name=bowling.jpg >}} + {{< figures/image name=old-brigade.jpg >}} +{{< /2col >}} + +Our last day in town, we went out to brunch at [The Tinker's Son][tinker], and +went up to [The Fox & Hound][fox] in Quincy to watch Tess' cousin +[Danny][brigade] play Irish music. + +--- + +I had a lot of feelings going into this Christmas. Apart from one pandemic year, +I've spent every year with my family in Arizona. I was worried about being in a +new place with people I didn't know well, breaking long-standing traditions with +my own family, letting them down, and feeling homesick. + +Everyone in Tess' family was welcoming and supportive. Tess' mom even got me a +stocking for their fireplce with my name on it, and her dad filled it with many +of the same things he gives to the rest of the family members. I also got to +watch Erin experience Christmas as a kid for the first time: opening presents, +playing in the snow, snuggling and reading books or watching TV together. + +I was able to keep some of my family traditions too. Mom sent me a box of full +of cookies; I shopped for presents for my parents and sister. And when we +returned to California, I was able to have a video call with my family to open +presents together. + +The older I get the more see the point of Christmas to be about the +relationships to family, and the sense of home and community you get from being +with people you love. Despite a whole new experience, I really felt that this +year. In fact, I think being in a new place, enacting different traditions, let +me hold the traditions and rituals of Christmas as I've experienced up to now a +little more loosely, and to focus on the people that bring meaning to the +holiday and make those rituals happen. + +[minot]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minot%27s_Ledge_Light +[bluey]: https://camp.com/bluey-x-camp-boston +[alleykat]: https://alleykatlane.com +[tinker]: https://www.thetinkersson.com +[fox]: https://www.foxandhoundquincy.com +[brigade]: https://www.instagram.com/theoldbrigade/ diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/minot.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/minot.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d97f476 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/minot.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:60395d73a2aa641b7d3f033474685bd2f9ef3128bb328f52456f432db579c1a3 +size 1976740 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/old-brigade.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/old-brigade.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6684f09 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/old-brigade.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:a3b5bd5931bdec32c2b54f7a63c6761d6951ee7e75891af6863aa127b2ed20ae +size 3163986 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/sand-hills.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/sand-hills.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d58eebe --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/sand-hills.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:8c190c6ac37402e683c61715a71a1c4494c81a659a63403329a871017d9bf156 +size 3017239 diff --git a/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/snow-friend.jpg b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/snow-friend.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d08759f --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/christmas-in-massachusetts/snow-friend.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:812fcea1bf412ac0fd89d790095ae641dcc0461c14caa11e5f7f53a3f479240a +size 2395627