Backpack Panic

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All things required for the nine week journey are now strewn upon the dining table; sleeping bag, water pills, quick drying clothes, safety pins, needles, thread, waterbottle, purification tablets, dental hygiene products, first aid stuff, books to read and hand sanitizer, etc, etc, etc. With great anticipation and holding my breath, I hope it all fits with room to spare. Things will be left behind ... but what ... oh the decisions, the decisions, the decisions .... once on the plane the trip will be in motion, worries will be left behind and new ones will be confronted.

At this writing Christmas dinner is on top of the to-do-list; M&M ordurvees, cheeseballs covered in nuts, liver dumpling soup, duck not goose, red cabbage, basmati rice, a myriad of home baked cookies, Viennese coffee, eggnog spiked with Cuban rum, all eaten from the best china with silver cutlery gleaming. Even though the food consumed has changed over the years (it used to be potato salad, fish, and stuffed tomatoes) Christmas Eve continues to be the time for feasting and sharing.

Two days of absolute panic left for last minute doings like un-decorating the tree, putting the house in some sort of order, celebrating the season, gathering kindling and chopping wood for chilly March days and closing the house making sure it is left in a safe state.

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