So today has been a rather surreal day, culminating in a unexpectedly joyous moment where my daughter is curled up in my bed beside me reading Ted Morgan’s memoir My Battle of Algiers, a favorite of mine, with the neighbor’s dog at her feet.

Today Easton hosted small business Saturday and my daughter had to work at her very part-time gig downtown. Amid various entertainment, a sale at Book and Puppet Company, and horse-drawn carriage rides, I ran into an old friend.

The Grinch and I toured the downtown. A horse snotted on him. Everyone asked for photos–including my old friend Marishka who tells me every time I see her that I keep getting more beautiful.

After our visit to Easton Public Market, Grinch and I met up with my daughter. We had coffee at Dunkin where several people commented on my “G” Alphabooks journal. A very small child even stole it.

Next, my teen and I went to retrieve her euphonium from the car. She had registered to participate in Tuba Christmas. She had heard about the event in school and as a low brass player (with a mom who loves Christmas carols) how could we resist the chance to play in a band of only euphoniums, baritones, tubas and sousaphones?

Tuba Christmas

The group met for the first time about 90 minutes before the performance. They practiced at the Sigal Museum, filling the entire building with bold horn music.

I ran into another old colleague there who couldn’t quite figure out why I was there, especially since I didn’t have an instrument. Apparently he hadn’t seen my daughter since she was a preschooler.

In many ways, returning to professional life has felt like emerging from hibernation. I have lived in the same house the entire time I worked retail, but it is mind-boggling how I feel like I have been more absent from life than I realized.

Now, how do I say what I want to say next? Ummm… let’s just say the act before Tuba Christmas included “Dominic the Donkey” and his ability to impersonate a donkey was amusing but perhaps not in a good way.

After an hour outside in frigid weather, and seeing an elf on stilts:

The teen and I jacked the heat up in the car and stopped at Dunkin, again. This time for hot drinks.

And that is how I say hello to the holiday season!