While I had very much wanted to spend Christmas in Italy once again this year, I was unable and nonetheless thought it best to stay put and spend it with my father, with whom I last spent Christmas in....2008? 2009? Yes, it's time to go be with Dad for Christmas. Three days prior, my sister drove down from Beacon, and we were off to Delaware in my new car.
Being in Delaware again was a flurry of activity. Well, it was flurry of vicarious activity through my sister. Being back in Delaware, she had lots of people to catch up with, and she was out the door not long after getting home. Dad, Jeanne and I built a fire in the fireplace (thank you, God), and cooked a lovely dinner to catch up.
But that's not to say that I didn't have my fair share of people to catch up with. For once, my childhood friend Aaron abandoned whatever he was doing and drove up from Salisbury to catch up with me for the first time in two years. He looked older, but, then again, aren't we all getting older now? Nonetheless, we stayed up drinking beer in front of the fire and catching up.
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| Catching up. |
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| Kind of looks like Mr. Smith from The Matrix, doesn't he? |
The following day, Christmas Eve Day, a hungover Margaret and I went out in the yard shooting my old BB gun, and then went back to Assawoman State Park, one of our favorite places to go to hang out growing up; it's a secret, quiet place on the back bays of Delaware, and in addition to the lack of people, it has a lovely observation tower.
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| Don't f**k with her. |
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| Assawoman. |
That night, at Margaret's behest, we watched Home Alone. I know it may be cheesy, but it felt good to sit in between the fireplace and the lit plastic Christmas tree watching this childhood classic. Dad and Margaret didn't make it through the film and went to bed, and as I sat alone between the plastic and wooden warmth watching Daniel Stern and Joe Pesce become irate, I thought, "Yeah, this is Christmas." I went to bed feeling nostalgically warm and comfortable---and at home. I was at home again.
And being at home, the next morning I was unmistakably at home for Christmas. Waking up, the warm scent of pancakes and coffee wafted through the house, and the familiar dialogue of "A Christmas Story" drifted upstairs from the television (it's played on a 24 hour loop on TBS on Christmas Day, for those who don't live in the US). Dad, Margaret and I opened our stockings and gifts together before eating breakfast, and after lounging about for a good part of the day, we drove to Lewes to Cape Henlopen.
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| Ah yes, the Star-bellied Sneetches! |
I love Cape Henlopen. It was always one of my favorite places to go when I was in Delaware, and it holds a special place in my heart: I went to day camp there for summers when I was a boy to learn about Delaware seashore nature, and during college I worked half a mile away in the summer and would often go there to eat lunch in my car, looking out over the sea.
What is Cape Henlopen State Park today was once a second World War military base called Fort Miles. At that time, the US was very much concerned about German U-Boats and warships foraying into its territorial waters. As a result, the army created a base on the Delaware side of the entrance to Delaware Bay, the waterway by which goods are shipped in and out of Philadelphia. To keep an eye out for enemy ships, the army built a series of tall concrete watchtowers in the dunes on the Delaware coast. These were not so much used to spot enemy ships as they were used for purposes of triangulation: knowing the distance between the towers allowed soldiers at Fort Miles to accurately aim their guns at a naval target. Unfortunately however, no German subs were ever spotted, so Fort Miles' guns remained silent and the towers were abandoned. Lucky for us though, one remains open and free to climb to the public; on a clear day, you can see all the way to New Jersey. Because these towers have been sitting around for the past 60 or so years, they have become a sort of symbol of the Delaware seashore. So naturally, in addition to a stroll around the Fort Miles and its bunkers overlooking the sea, we made a chilly ascent up the tower for a Christmas day panorama (being afraid of heights, climbing the tower was something that took me years to do and is still difficult for me).
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| Man with a gun. |
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| Symbol of the shore. |
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| Fort Miles. |
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| Don't look down! |
That evening, we had a roast for dinner, one last fire in the fireplace, and a commotion in the house as many old friends stopped by one last time to have a chat (and drink our beer!).
I would have liked to have stayed longer, but we had to be back in New York the following day because Margaret had to catch a flight to California for work (it was so hard to leave that fireplace). Nonetheless, it was nice to have a Christmas at home again, something I haven't done for a long time.
