Charlie and me had a nice, quiet Christmas, just the two of us. (As a cashier down to the A&P, I’m on the front lines, so no socializing with loved ones inside for me.) Yes, it was kind of lonesome, but we zoomed with my sister Irene and her family and my dad down to Mahoosuc
Green. That helped. We took a long walk with Scamp on the 24th. I cooked us a nice roast pork dinner with homemade applesauce, twice baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon, a green bean bake and a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Yum!
It poured on Christmas day, just like on Thanksgiving. So, 2020, right? But hey, it was a triple-pork-day with pork pie for breakfast and leftovers for supper: roast pork and bacon. Don’t get much better than that!
I texted friends and let them know I was thinking about them. I read a Regency Romance. Don’t judge. It takes your mind of things and it’s comfortably predictable. That’s what I’m craving about now.
And we spread the gift giving throughout the day. We just give each other little things. To be honest, Charlie doesn’t always know what he gave me. They just magically appear under the 
tree. I act surprised when I unwrap ‘em even though I bought ‘em.
Now, I know Charlie pretty well, and he loved all the things I got him: new snowmobile gloves, a Hickory Farms gift box, a roto-rooter type thing for getting rid of nose hair, a subscription to Field and Stream. One gift, however, was an epic fail. In my defense, it was an impulse buy, but apparently not a good one.
I’ll let Charlie tell you about it.
Pom-Pom Hat
Ida found it at the Fair
This hat she thought that I would wear
With big, bright colors, each a stripe
They were not my biggest gripe
What really makes this hat a flop:
Pom-pom, sitting right on top
Now I’m a man of many hats
But I will not be seen in that
I’ve worn odd ones, that I’ll grant ya:
Santa’s hat, when I play Santa
Fireman’s hat to volunteer
(I don’t care how I appear)
I’ll give most any hat a try
But I’m no pom-pom kind of guy
My wool one’s good for blowin’ snow
And ball caps when I’m on the go
Got one for when the Sox are playin’
(I like the logo I’m displayin’)
Orange hat, it shows up good
When I’m out hunting in the wood
But you will never catch me dead
With some pom-pom on my head
You know that bunny slope in town?
I think they’ve got a lost and found
That is where this hat’ll go
Some young skier, I just know,
Will put that on and look, I hope,
Like he’s not some kind of dope
She was nice to give me that
But I won’t wear no pom-pom hat
Good to know that even after forty-plus years of marriage, I can still learn something new about my husband.
That’s it for now. Catch you in 2021!
Hear Ida Tell It: Xmas Fail
Coming Up in 2021
January 7, Virtual Book Reading, 6:00pm, Wiggin Memorial Library, Stratham, NH
Start your new year off with a laugh. Click here to register.