"On a Wintry Day at the Cafe", oil,
by Robin Cheers

Today we went out to lunch at Noah's, and surprise! ran into Jim and Ann and young Angela at the restaurant, and they invited us to join them in their booth. It was cozy seating, but good fun -- fine food and friendly laughter and chatter on a cold Christmasy kind of day.

We were actually off on a shopping adventure, hoping to each buy a gift for ourselves that we might enjoy finding under the tree on Christmas morning. After Noah's, we stopped at a gift store in the Borough, but nothing caught Cia's attention, so we said goodbye to the Royles and drove out to BestBuy, where I looked at some Bose headphones. I have gotten away from seriously listening to my many hundreds of classical music CDs, and I think a good pair of headphones might be the best way to get back to one of my great loves. I'll keep shopping. I may not have them under the tree on Sunday morning, but they'll be on my ears, I'm sure, sooner rather than later.

A perfect Christmas scene