Festive but Rainy

I think this may be the first Christmas when I have absolutely nothing to give Dave. (And as far as I know, he has nothing to give me.) It's a strange feeling of lightness, of freedom. I think we may have finally done the holiday right this year!

Not that we're not celebrating. As I've already written, we put up our colored lights in the avocado tree, and Dave is going to cook a few special things, including a meat paté that has him very excited. I'll do the cleanup, as usual, but otherwise I'll probably read and watch television. Oh, and walk the dog, as Dave and I did together yesterday.

I did have a special holiday outing yesterday afternoon. My boss had tickets to a sing-along Christmas carol event at Royal Albert Hall featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Choral Society, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the British Imperial Military Band. Dave ultimately decided not to go -- he was too concerned about Covid -- but I went. We sat in a box so we were somewhat distanced and shielded from other people, except when I stood in line for the bar at intermission behind a woman who could not stop coughing.

("I swear it's not Covid," she said. "I already had that three weeks ago!" Remarks that did not exactly inspire confidence.)

Plus we were all masked and had to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to get in. It's not easy to sing through a mask, but I gave it my best shot. The wine helped.

Here's a little taste of what the event was like:

The emcee had everyone raise their illuminated phones, which is a pretty clever way to reproduce that candle-like glow. (If my phone has a light I have no idea how to turn it on.)

And this was the big finale featuring soloist Zara McFarlane -- and, briefly, Santa.

Finally, here's a video on Twitter of the entire crowd doing what the emcee called a "Mexican wave" (I can't imagine why it's Mexican, but whatever). I'm in there somewhere, in one of the boxes near the top of the screen.

By the time the event let out around 5 p.m. it was dark, and as I walked through rainy Hyde Park to the bus stop, I began to think maybe it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. An urban park at night?! Plus I found myself in a corner of the park where the gates were all locked and I had to backtrack to an open stile to get out. But I eventually made it home with no drama.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

(Photos: Day and night views of a tree on the high street near our flat.)