Ashley Gets Lost

All that rain we got down here at approximately sea level must have been snow on our mountains! They are so white and so beautiful. I love getting to see snow (from afar at this point) without having to actually experience it. I wouldn’t mind driving up to see it, but I’m not mad about snow no longer impacting my day to day life. My warmest hugs go out to all of my chilly friends back in the cold parts of America.

There have been Christmas events here well AFTER Christmas, and I just learned that the holiday season isn’t over until January 6th, which is supposedly the anniversary of Jesus being baptized. It’s also my friend Jeff’s birthday, which is the only reason I know about this event. It’s a very big holiday here. The pharmacy was closed, which was fun because Joshua hasn’t been feeling well this week. You need to plan your ailments in advance or hope you don’t need medicine between 2:30 pm on a Saturday and Monday morning. Unless Monday is Epiphany, and then you have to wait until Tuesday!

But I digress!

Here’s Jeffry the Sailor Man (for real) sitting on a most (un)comfortable rock waiting for the ceremony. But the real point of this picture is for you to see the man behind him holding a duck. The duck was the star of this show.

After a special church service, the priest comes down to the ocean to say some blessings and throw a cross into the water. Then people (mostly young kids) jump in to find it. Whoever finds it gets good luck all year, and I hear you can go around flashing it in public all day and people will give you money! See that duck there? It’s the same duck. Duck man jumped in too!

The duck just swam around living its best life, doing duck business. Then when duck man was finished doing his uh, human business (Looking for a cross maybe? I wasn’t paying attention. There was a duck to look at.), he went to go grab his duck. He swam after it, and then the duck ended up on the beach. The man tried to catch it, and then it got back into the water. Eventually he was triumphant in a sea catch, and then the duck just stood there on his arm. I think they’re best friends?

I heard a rumor that he takes that duck everywhere as if it’s his dog. He’ll park the duck on the roof of his car while he goes into the store. No idea if this is true, but I hope it is. I’m loving this journey for him and his BFF (best fowl friend).

After the duck was caught, I went back to Jeff and Shanna’s house to have drinks and eat deviled eggs, ham/pickle pinwheels, and macaroni and cheese. Jeff handed me his navy news magazine, and we ended up doing a whole New York Times crossword puzzle that we barely cheated at! Then I went home to take a nap before Monday night karaoke, where I was rewarded with this ancient relic of a coaster.

It was a very good Monday all told, and I had so much fun from start to finish, when Felix and I walked home up the hill sometime after midnight.

I pretty much haven’t done anything since then. It’s been a nice peaceful week. The weather has been fantastic. Flowers are blooming. I gave a spider a bath (more on that soon)!

I have been spending my evenings catching up on For All Mankind and crocheting while Glommo supervises. He used to try to mess with my yarn, but now he just sits there and stares at it like it’s his favorite show. So cute! And yes, those are my house crocs, and no, we’re not going to talk about them. Unless you find yourself needing a new pair of slippers every year, then yes, I do recommend a pair of house crocs. Otherwise mind your own business.