Today is Saturday, December 24, 2022, Christmas Eve. It’s frigid here in New York; the temperature is an icy 14 degrees, but tomorrow, the high is expected to be a balmy 27 degrees. It’s because of this Arctic front that my friends cancelled the dinner at Woodside tonight and that’s fine with me. I actually preferred not to have gone. In the afternoon, I was still considering what mode of transportation I was going to take if the event had not been cancelled – was I going to drive or take the subway? I was still contemplating which way to go to minimize my exposure to the cold. I knew, instinctively, it was better to have just stayed home, and so, I was provided my wish when my friend texted me at 2:08 that he and his partner were taking a rain check. Boy, was I relieved when I received this text.

We did go to Rockville Centre, though, to meet up with Elliot’s daughter “Emily” and her husband “Allan” at an Irish pub called Churchill’s, located on South Park Avenue. Since we were meeting at 12, I had no time to have breakfast out, so I heated up my banana walnut pancakes from the other day and finished them.

When it was time to leave, I called the garage and got the car and drove to the front of the building to pick up Elliot. We then drove out to Hempstead and got to the restaurant early, say, around 11:30. I fed the meter outside and we dashed into the fairly deserted restaurant. We mentioned to the hostess that we were expecting two more guests, so we were ushered to a booth by the wall.

We ordered drinks first. Then we waited. By around 12, we saw Emily and Allan walking outside the front of the restaurant and we waved them to our table after they walked up to the hostess. They were both wearing black N95 masks when they approached our table. They took them off when they slid into the booth.

We all then had a spirited discussion about the weather, our Florida trip, renovations needed on their house in Silver Spring, Maryland, COVID-19 and other health hazards on the horizon, and reminisced about past excursions taken when Emily and her sister were much younger. At about 12:41, my phone alarm went off to alert me that I needed to put more quarters in the meter, so I rushed out to feed the metal beast.

The food at Churchill’s was extremely good. I ordered their French onion soup as an appetizer and went with the chicken pot pie as my main entree. The coffee was just adequate.

By 1:30 or so, it was time to leave the restaurant and say goodbye to Emily and Allan. They walked to the eatery, so they didn’t have to go very far. We got back into the car and headed for Forest Hills.

The rest of the day we stayed in – until I ventured out after 3 to purchase some cards and a newspaper. Barring the wind, I thought the weather was somewhat tolerable. I had a sweater on, wore a lined tan coat, had earmuffs on, and a black woolen cap. What was missing from my winter ensemble was a scarf and that was unfortunate since my neck was totally exposed to the elements.

So it’s getting late here. I do hope tomorrow shows some improvement in the weather.

Have a fabulous holiday for those who do celebrate.

I will probably not be here tomorrow, Christmas Day, since we’re having our friend “Mark” over for latkes and a roasted pork. What a strange combination, you would say. It is!

Stay safe and be well. Oh, and please stay warm.