23 - Christmas.
joneworlds@mailbox.org

Last year's  christmas day, we all  took barbecues
out to the picnic table over by what's left of the
old playground  in our  complex.  Pete  was baking
potatoes,  Hat  was  grilling turkey  pieces,  Del
brought out some  fresh bread, and Lucy  and I had
gone  and  picked  up   about  2  dozen  boxes  of
slightly-expired instant  stuffing at  a warehouse
sale over at Obern. The kind in the box, salty but
we had a ton of it  which is great. Lots of others
brought out  bits and  pieces and plates  and cups
and all  that. Even a  few elfs came and  hung out
for a bit, and were showing us this game with rods
and cord that none of  us had seen before.  It was
like  some kind  of competitive  jump-rope dueling
thing. And you know, even the centaurs came around
and  weren't jerks  for once,  and they  brought a
whole  wagon  full  of booze,  which  sure  helped
things stay  merry.  They  had another  wagon with
toys for the kids. And I guess that's why we never
go all  out against them even  though they usually
bully and  smack us  around - there's  always just
enough  good  stuff  that  we  remember  and  keep
hanging  on  to.  Such  as  it  is with  many  bad
relationships,  I  guess.   Anyways,  last  year's
Christmas day, it was a really good time.

But that was last year, and this is this year with
the covid, and now we're  all hunkered down in our
houses and gazing out the windows at the slush and
ice covering the common area. The centaurs are out
there,  cussing and  yelling  and  having a  knife
fight tournament or some other stupid-ass thing.