Stress & Mess

Chaos is in the air in the wine shop.

Wrapping paper and ribbon, cellophane and unfinished gift baskets are everywhere, the floor is littered with bits of straw packing and discarded notes. Cheese plates are in progress, servers run to and fro for wine and extra crackers and the telephone rings endlessly - last minute gift orders, dinner reservations, catering questions. Every manager and owner is present and pitching in and despite the stress and mess, this is my favorite time of year in retail. We're all fueled by adrenaline and caffeine, lack of sleep and holiday anxiety - it's happy madness, unruly, loud, fast paced and in its own frantic, frenzied way, a whole lot of fun. Still, there won't be any regrets when the last gift basket has been delivered and the last table cleared and we're all able to return to our normal pace. The new year approaches.

Friends ask if I miss the snow and cold of New England - like I would a root canal without anaesthesia, I think but just laugh and say no. For better or worse, I have become transplanted in the Land of Dixie and magnolia trees,
bayous and parishes, extreme wealth and extreme poverty. The halls of the rehab hospital are falsely gay with decorations - wheelchair bound residents, some intact, some with broken or missing limbs, make their way from room to room. A nurse passes with a brightly colored basket of cookies, she wears a Santa hat and a cheerful smile and I can hear her humming under her breath. Scrub suited aides escort visitors bearing gifts and carry on lively conversations, Christmas music echos from the dining hall, there are sounds of laughter and ragged breathing and some crying. An unattended gurney sits by the elevator, its sheets tangled and in disarray and someone has put a large poinsettia plant squarely in its center. It would make an interesting photograph, I think as I pass, the sharp red and green against the stark white is eye catching and oddly evocative.

At the doctor's office, things are winding down with the last flurry of Medicare patients seen and sorted out before the new year and the new deductibles kick in. Our newly divorced little nurse has met someone and has a date for Christmas Eve, coworkers are off to New Orleans and Texas, the doctor and his family are leaving for the Festival of Lights in Natchitoches, a beautiful and historic small southern city just south of us. My friend Michael is packing his dogs and his presents for the trip to Arkansas and my friend Tricia is aglow with having all her daughters at home for the holiday.

At the end of the day, I crawl into bed with my own family of cats and dogs and revel in the prospect of sleeping til noon. Tis the season.