Merry Christmas

[osprey_archer]

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate Christmas! And a very white Christmas it is here: snow fell all day yesterday, as if it had been ordered in on schedule. This left the roads quite sloppy by the time I got off work, and after I went into a bit of a skid on the way back to my apartment, I decided that after all it was probably a better idea to spend the night in Indianapolis and come back to my hometown this morning.

So I spent Christmas Eve watching The Crown (including, quite by accident, the episode with the Queen's first televised Christmas address, which seemed serendipitously seasonal), and this morning I drove home for Christmas. The roads were clear and the sky was clear but for a few fine streaks of cirrus clouds, and the snow on the fields and dotting the trees gleamed in the sunshine.

A most Christmasy drive. And then we sat beneath the tree and opened presents (I am now plentifully supplied with books, including one about the newest science on dinosaurs), and in the afternoon Emma came over and we decorated Christmas cookies and chatted about things (I recommended All's Faire in Middle School to her; it is apparently my new personal goal to make as many people as possible read it), and after supper I made molten chocolate cakes for dessert, which my brother and I ate with ice cream. So it has been a good holiday.

Comments

[asakiyume]

We had a white Christmas at my dad's house too--very pretty.

I loved the real-life queen's first televised speech. We watched it last year, together with her that-year's speech, and today we watched her this-year's speech. At the start, she said, "some of you will be watching this on mobile phones," and indeed, we were watching it on Wakanomori's.

I've only watched one season of The Crown, but I liked it. How are you finding it?

[osprey_archer]

I have been mainlining The Crown at an alarming rapid rate and loving it, although sometimes they can hit their themes a bit too hard. But even then, many of the show's themes are unusual, so I don't mind as much as I might; they may go on a bit about the primacy of duty and the duty of the monarch to embody an ideal for the nation, but where else am I going to see that in this day and age?

Or the part where Churchill says "individualism" as if it were a virus. I can't remember the last time I watched or read anything where any of the characters were anti-individualism. It's bracing!

The show deals with religious questions thoughtfully & respectfully, even when the religious scruples are ones that few people share in 2017 - I'm thinking particularly of the parts that deal with divorce.

But many of the moral questions still feel directly relevant. I just watched an episode where the Queen grapples with forgiveness - specifically, whether she can forgive her uncle David (who abdicated the throne and made various other poor decisions) - and what to do when she finds she can't forgive him, even though she feels she has a Christian duty to do so, because her duty to the country ultimately makes forgiveness impossible.

Obviously most of us aren't going to deal with that exact issue, but I think the conflict is a common one.

[asakiyume]

Yes, that's pretty much exactly how I felt about it too (only have watched Season 1[did I say that above?--YUP], but) The themes are fascinating and rarely dealt with!

We were so impressed with the solemnity of her coronation, as portrayed on the show, that we went and watched the real thing, which you can find on YouTube.

[missroserose]

That sounds delightful! We had a quiet holiday too - Brian made ham with a glaze that nigh on a culinary masterpiece. I had to stop myself from eating the whole pot with a spoon. (I'm glad I did, because it was even better on the ham.) And my mince pie came out lovely. We did sneak out to deliver food to a friend (she'd originally intended to join us, but was feeling burned out from work so she decided to stay home), but mostly we just hung around the house and cooked and made drinks and had a lovely warm day.

I'm glad your drive was safe and picturesque. I didn't know you live in Indianapolis! Brian goes there for work sometimes; if I can get coverage for my classes maybe next time I'll come with him and we can meet up for coffee and talk about books. :)

[osprey_archer]

Let me know! My schedule is pretty up in the air right now, so who knows if I'll be able to make it work, but we'll see how things shake out.

[missroserose]

Definitely! It'll likely be several months out at least, but hopefully we'll have plenty of warning. :)