A little break in the stormy weather today (Boston area).
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Those who may not have shelter.
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A melancholy holiday season. Mom is 94 today; thanks to the weather there were no visitors (though she did receive a lovely assortment of teas thanks to a determined UPS driver). My one sister and her family are going to stop by tomorrow, though her youngest has been having problems getting to Philly from Colorado. But her oldest will be here with her husband and their three kids (mom says you know you’re old when you have a great grandchild in college 
First Christmas since my other sister passed. Her husband and oldest son are coming for dinner Sunday; her youngest had to return to Arizona earlier this week. Of course I’m overcompensating by overfeeding them–a ham, a roast, potatoes, corn, green beans, biscuits and of course candy, cookies and pie. Counting on them taking home lots of leftovers–they’re both good cooks, but I don’t know how motivated they are right now.
The house is warm, the family is close and there’s no shortage of food, so I suppose it’s not all melancholy.
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Sounds like a delicious and loving spread. Happy Christmas.
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Speaking of UPS drivers and bad weather…
I saw this on youtube, last year… but it is still GREAT!!
" DRAFT HORSES PULL OUT UPS TRUCK FROM SNOW BANK!!!"
skip to 1:50 into the video
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That is great! We used to go to horse shows when I was a kid and the size and strength of those draft horses was amazing.
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That warms my morning 
. It’s currently 4F (or -15C) so no flowers here.
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A balmy 13F here -11C. Wingchill sez -3/-19C 
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58 f here. I’m not complaining.
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That looks like Brunfelsia, a.k.a. Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow. Many species and all are toxic. Hard to see that it’s related to tomatoes!
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Yes it’s Btunfelsia pauciflora. It’s not rare in Sri Lanka but not very common either.
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The wood has “gone to hell” or is “shot to hell.” Seriously, my dad was a carpenter.
Shoot. I’ve been without my best bud for over a year, now. Still miss him. So sorry to hear you lost a dear friend.
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2714 posts? time for a new thread! 
This isn’t food service but the jobs are comparable in terms of pay & respect:
IMO across the whole U.S. COVID woke up the service sector’s low tier employees who’ve collectively walked away in search of the better. and yup it’s impacted prices so owners could afford to pay the dishwashers & maids something approaching a Living Wage.
It’s funny that my random sampling of the states shows pretty much a $30K-ish a year is what’s needed for a single no kids living wage UNLESS you’re in one of the really pricey cities-- then it’s $40K-ish. $30K = $15/hr & $40K = $20/hr.
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A new year is coming. That seems like a good time to start a new thread.
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I think that’s a swell idea.
This is an interesting essay and it was written pre-pandemic so things have only accelerated since then.
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Today there was a question and answer thing at the Guide Lecturer license course. I used the word “geopolitical” somewhere in my answer, and the “lecturer” asked me why I use “big” words. 
I said it’s a normal word used in English speaking countries but he was unconvinced. “You can’t use that word without showing countries on a map. So don’t use words you don’t know” was his (admonishing) comment. His English is really poor yet he’s teaching how to guide mainly English speaking European tourists.
I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Lol.
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Nothing like an insecure supervisor. Sorry that happened. Best to just ignore and move on.
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