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​YES, THERE'S hope

Tis the Season to Get Weird

12/3/2020

 
Oddball Thanksgiving Guests / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
Our Thanksgiving guest list was a little different this year.

​“Who is that glamorous couple?” I asked Bill the Printer one long ago snowy day in Ohio. He'd just run off a stack of holiday cards featuring a gorgeously lit photo of a handsome couple in evening dress. “Are they actors? Millionaire philanthropists?”
 
Bill laughed. “That’s what they want you to think. They’re Joan and Darren Silverman, just ordinary folks. But every year they dress up, produce a flashy holiday card, and send it out to celebrities, hoping for a card in return. And since celebrities can’t always remember who they’ve met during the year, sometimes it works. By now they’re on quite a few high-end mailing lists.” He named some TV personalities, minor film stars, and rising politicos.
 
“Ingenious,” I said. Then inspiration struck. “I know, I’ll do the same thing to them!” Bill thought this was hilarious and — small towns being relaxed about such things — had no qualms about providing me with their address. I was in his shop picking up my own cards, and I went right home and wrote one to them. “Joan and Darren, you’re the best! Continued success in the year ahead.” It was in the mail by nightfall. Bill phoned a few days later. “They’re completely flummoxed,” he said. “They told me they can’t figure out who you guys are!”

Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
"You think the holidays are stressful for YOU? I've got 1,763 fleas to send cards to!"

​We exchanged holiday cards with the Silvermans for years, and every time theirs arrived, Rich and I roared with laughter and considered it a highlight of the season. A timely reminder that the holidays aren’t about being perfect or feeling sentimental or finding the meaning of life. They’re about staggering to the end of the year as best we can, arriving disheveled and exhausted, with just enough creative energy left to think up a few last bits of fun to round out the season.
 
Take our Thanksgiving feast, for instance. This being 2020, we knew it would be madness to gather with friends or relatives, so I suggested to Rich that we populate our table with various non-human members of the household: Two life-sized skeletons from Mexico, one of which I’d given to Rich during our courtship, the other I’d presented to him as a wedding gift. A Mayan head wearing a Thai headdress and 3-D sunglasses. A Buddhist monk. And Lucille, who once modeled fashion accessories in a shop and now serves as Rich’s hat rack.
 
“This isn’t creepy, right?” I asked Rich. “It’s just for company, like Tom Hanks and his friend Wilson the Volleyball in Castaway.”
 
“Are you kidding? It’s Thanksgiving with the Addams family.”

Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
I sent a photo of our Thanksgiving table companions to European friends in Seville, with the subject line “This isn’t too weird, is it?”
 
They promptly wrote back saying the very fact we could even ask that question was deeply worrying. “This is how we imagine your feast,” they added, sending us a link to the classic comedy skit of the butler who drinks all the wine poured out for absent friends.
​


​We may not have a butler, but we did our best to create a vivid atmosphere. Particularly sharp-eyed readers may have noticed in the photo at the start of this post that we used the gratitude quilt as our tablecloth. The quilt project has exceeded my wildest expectations. Many thanks to all the readers, friends, and relatives who told me what they’re grateful for this year. Your comments were wonderful: funny, profound, quirky, and so very, very you. I had to condense the wording considerably, to make the lettering legible while writing with a fat, felt-tipped marker on the rough quilted surface, but I did my best to capture the spirit of every remark.

2020 Thanksgiving Gratitude Quilt / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com

​The quilt is now permanently enshrined as our holiday tablecloth, for as long as it lasts. We have agreed wine stains and grease spots will only add to its character. I still have some comments to add, but there's plenty of room for more, so if you haven’t contributed yet, please use the comments section below to let me know what you’re thankful for this year. Even 2020 had its bright spots. (Yes, it did!)

2020 Thanksgiving Gratitude Quilt / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com

What am I thankful for? The Covid-19 vaccine. With our national numbers climbing to dizzying heights — 13.8 million cases and 271,000 deaths at last count — recent announcements that scientists have come up with effective immunizations sparked widespread rejoicing. But the fizzy mood of unity falls flat the moment talk turns to the distribution plan.
 
Because there is no plan. There won’t be nearly enough to go around, at least at first. Pfizer and Moderna combined are expected to produce and distribute enough vaccines for 45 million people by the end of January, leaving 283 million Americans still unprotected. The current administration has refused to take on the task of organizing the distribution, leaving it up to the governor of each state to decide who gets first dibs on the two-part vaccine. Everyone agrees healthcare workers are the top priority, but donnybrooks of Biblical proportions have erupted over who comes next in each state. Non-medical essential workers, older adults, obese adults with compromised immune systems, meat packers, ski instructors living in shared housing … the lists go on and on.

Funniest greeting card ever / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
I love this card, a cautionary tale about the results of greed overcoming common sense.

​Rich remains optimistic about our chances. “Luckily, we’re living in Marin County, the epicenter of the anti-vaccination movement. That means a lot less demand from our neighbors. We’re older adults, so after healthcare workers, we’re practically at the head of the line.”
 
The powers that be continue to duke it out, and I suspect not much will happen until the new administration takes over on January 20. Whatever the timeline, I’m holding on to the idea that the vaccine might be coming my way by the spring, paving the way for our return to Seville. Spain’s numbers are falling now, another hopeful sign, although more spikes are likely everywhere due to super-spreader family togetherness this month.
 
In the meantime, I’m sending messages of holiday cheer to my amigos around the world. The few I have street addresses for will be getting real, paper holiday cards, something I haven’t sent out since I moved to Seville. Sadly, I can no longer find the address I once had for the Silvermans. Which by the way, is not their real name; I didn’t want to reveal their identity and risk spoiling their game, should they still be at it. And I hope they are. In fact, I imagine them sitting by a fireplace writing out their bogus cards again this year, trying for Tom Hanks,  Betty White, and Dr. Fauci. I picture one turning to the other and remarking, “Remember those total strangers who used to send us holiday cards? The McCanns? Boy, those guys were really weird.” I like to think in our own small way we helped make their holidays truly special.

Table for People on the Go (wearing boots)  / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
Not weird, right? Our old wooden table, which normally winters indoors, is staying out on the back deck this year, and I wanted her attired in protective yet festive gear.

​YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY
Is California Still Weird? Oh Yeah / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
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Navigating Holidays in the Pandemic Hellscape / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
NAVIGATING HOLIDAYS IN THE PANDEMIC
Get lucky on New Year's Eve / Weird at the Holidays / Pandemic celebrations / Karen McCann / EnjoyLivingAbroad.com
HOW TO GET LUCKY ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
​This post is part of my ongoing series of articles on surviving the pandemic while holding on to some shreds of our sanity and sense of humor, however weird things get.
​

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Jan
12/3/2020 06:02:20 pm

The thought of being able to visit Spain again next year, see our friends, and family there, brings tears to my eyes! I'm cheered by the thought that by June (hopefully) the US will be vaccinated and cleared for travel again! Just knowing there is hope is huge!

Karen K McCann
12/3/2020 06:24:05 pm

I feel just the same way, Jan. Today's news is so gloomy, with reports of 200,000 Covid cases and nearly 3000 deaths yesterday, the highest ever in a single day. The thought that the vaccines could stop this disease and let us all get back to normal, and back to Spain, brings much-needed hope and joy.

Catherine Hutchison
12/3/2020 07:13:32 pm

I love your Thanksgiving guests. It just goes to show your sense of humor is intact! I am grateful for many things this year. My husband had some health problems in January and February but did not have a hospital visit during Covid! WIN!. My daughter finished her dissertation, eight years in the making. So we have a doctor in the family.. not an MD but a wonderful PhD. My son has been able to work by isolating himself while working on bikes.
I have learned to zoom and attend lots of organizing meetings without getting dressed up. At last we have hope that sanity will be back in the White House. Counting down the days. Grateful that I have a roof, food and imagination to dream of travel i the future...

Karen K McCann
12/4/2020 04:49:45 pm

Catherine, I'm so glad to hear you and your husband got through your health issues without a hospital visit; they're scary places this year! And congratulations to your daughter; a PhD is really something to celebrate. And to your son for figuring out how to work while sheltering in place. And to you for mastering Zoom, which has become so essential in all our lives these days. Like you, I'm hopeful that the future will bring more sanity and (eventually) travel. We have an interesting year ahead!

Shéa
12/3/2020 08:46:01 pm

Your holiday table is definitely not too weird. In fact, it seems downright tame for 2020!

I love your story of sending the Silvermans cards. Hilarious! It really is too bad you lost their address because that Thanksgiving photo would have made the perfect card!

Karen K McCann
12/4/2020 04:53:58 pm

You're so right, Shéa; 2020 really raised the bar on bizarre behavior. As for the Silvermans, I can only hope that some day they stumble across this blog post and go, "Hey! Those are the freaky strangers who sent us all those cards!"

Kim Murphey
12/3/2020 09:03:09 pm

Grateful for anticipation of retirement and then retirement in September 2020 with health intact. Retired RN.

P.S. Thankful to you for sharing your wit and antics❤️.

Karen K McCann
12/4/2020 04:55:32 pm

Congratulations on your retirement, Kim! These days being able to stay home — and in your case, off the front lines — is a great comfort. I'll add your comments to my gratitude quilt. Thanks!

Faye
12/3/2020 10:24:47 pm

I like this post, the pics and the “drunken butler”. You guys are so creative and such fun! But I have to say, I especially love the gratitude quilt/tablecloth. What an awesome idea! I am thinking of doing something similar and possibly using it for some other purpose.

PS: And I so enjoyed the apple cider mimosa...Mmmmm...must do that again!

Karen K McCann
12/5/2020 01:48:49 am

Faye, I highly recommend making a gratitude quilt; it's been great fun to have people contribute and often the comments are surprising. I think it would be easier with non-quilted material. My sister made one with a pair of white cotton thrift shop tablecloths ($2 each) and even though they turned out to be curtains, they worked just fine. If you used permanent markers or paint pens, you might even be able to wash the tablecloth occasionally. Something to ponder as you sit and sip your apple cider mimosas — which I agree are delicious!

Jackie K Smith link
12/4/2020 04:05:44 pm

I saw your call for grateful additions and like you we are grateful for the hope the new vaccine promises. . .perhaps it will allow us to get back to the States for a visit while getting you two back to this side of the pond. But you know what I would like my grateful on your quilt to be: (okay so it didn't happen this year but I am still grateful for it) was meeting you two, spending time with you, sharing laughter, travel tales, similarities, food and wine. That my friends, is what I am grateful for! Short version the serendipity of friendship!

Karen K McCann
12/5/2020 01:52:17 am

The serendipity of friendship — what a marvelous phrase! I added it to the quilt this morning. It was wonderful meeting you and I will always be grateful for the warm hospitality you and Joel lavished on us while we were in Greece. I have so many memories of sitting at cafe tables laughing with you two! I'm glad that you are now part of this memory quilt forever, Jackie!

Ingrid Molde link
12/6/2020 02:21:49 am

I am so thankful for laughter! Your blog about Thanksgiving was priceless! I feel younger after a good laugh! Thanks!

Karen McCann
12/6/2020 06:24:53 pm

Delighted to hear it, Ingrid! We all need some chuckles these days, now more than ever.

Tobey Hiller
12/9/2020 02:26:06 am

Ah, such zest & comforting hilarity, Karen--may it hold through the whole Holiday season right on into 2021, when the annus horribilis is finally (well, almost) defunct. The gratitude quilt is indeed a lovely (and loving) idea. I'm grateful, perhaps not in this order: For Who Won the Election! My family & its shenanigans, the apple tree I planted in our front yard, the sustaining presence of friends & --let's not forget: art! Oops, I forgot Wilster, the cat. (I'm not suggesting you put all this on the quilt, just thinking, at your prompt, about what got me through.)
Tobey

Karen McCann
12/9/2020 03:05:59 am

All truly wonderful things to be grateful for, Tobey! I'm so thankful to have your warm thoughts to add to the collection on my quilt, which is really growing into something marvelous. Somehow we always find what we need to sustain us, even through the darkest of times.

Kitty
12/9/2020 05:15:45 am

Wow, what a collection of things you come up with all the time!! A+++ on the decor and the writing too. Harvey plugged his vaccine number into his cell. He is about 1.68 million but 1,000,000 people in front of Anderson Cooper. I just got an email from UCSF; “COVID Cravings” for Comfort Food. It reminded me of you.
To a not so weird 2021.

codybecth link
6/2/2022 06:32:07 pm

Great Article! Thank you for sharing this is a very informative post, and looking forward to the latest one


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