26 DEC 25

After Patience has spent almost an hour curling and spraying her hair for Christmas Number Four...

...most of us zip north to New Town where most of the aunts and uncles and cousins have already arrived for coolers of “BLUE DRINKS!” for the kids (aka Kool-Aid bottles) and catered sandwiches...

A walk to the park in a fire-gold light of late sun on a day warm enough to be April...

...where Oxbear carves up fat reeds for some of the kids...

...then back for a giant group photo on the porch while Aunt P hurries from neighbor's house to neighbor's house looking for someone who's home to snap it... until a black truck rolls past with its windows down... “HEY!” cousin B yells down to the street... “CAN YOU TAKE OUR PICTURE!”... the truck pulls over and driver obliges to applause from 46 present family members between Missouri Miami Indiana New Hampshire and the Carolinas squashed together up top... “THANK YOU!!” and more applause...

Back inside for peach Ninja slushies and checking out the mirror finish on Uncle R's Tesla truck...

...and three hours later we're wrapping Christmas Number Four... and all the curl has fallen out of Patience's hair...