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So many things are different about this holiday season. But come hell or high water, my family WILL be doing a barefoot snow walk.

My regular blog readers have heard about this unusual tradition. My paternal grandmother (“Gia Gia”) originated the challenge about 75 years ago, when she took off her shoes and socks in the dead of winter and tromped barefoot in the snow to the far side of her yard and back. It was a distance of perhaps 100 feet each way. Pretty much every year since, my family has been holding annual barefoot snow walks whenever we get together for the holidays.

It’s a foregone conclusion: before the turkey gets sliced or the gifts get opened, we gather up towels, remove socks and shoes, roll up the pants, set up a photographer or two, sprint out the back door into the snow, and — while holding one another for emotional and physical support — smile for the cameras.

(While we scream through gritted teeth, “Take it already!” “What do you mean you need one more!?” “No, I am not moving over!” “Why didn’t you turn the camera on before we got out here!?” “I AM smiling!”)

Then, after the photographers are thoroughly accommodated, we run screaming back into the house to re-acquaint ourselves with our feet.

This year, of course, we won’t be gathering for Christmas. So we’ve had to come up with a creative solution to keep the tradition going: the first-ever Zoom Barefoot Snow Walk.

My running buddy Mike Bodine actually came up with the idea, and after giving it some thought I realized it was inspired. So a set time has been arranged, texts have been sent, and the Zoom invite has been emailed. On Christmas morning, I, my kids, my siblings and a smattering of nephews — representing at least four states — will, at the appointed time, Zoom barefoot into whatever snow we happen to have.

It will be epic. And it will be recorded.

How about you? What unusual holiday traditions does your family have? How are you celebrating this unusual holiday safely and creatively?

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

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We all could use a little laugh right about now as Christmas-time stress compounds the stress we already have thanks to COVID.

So I thought I’d share these images with you, of a scene I came across in Irondequoit last weekend. All I could think of was, “Arlo Guthrie told us all about the ‘Thanksgiving Day Massacree.’ How come we haven’t heard anything about this obvious Christmas Day Massacree?

It got worse when I got to the Rec Center, where I saw clear evidence of a hit-and-run.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

Continuing my theme of it’s-such-a-stinky-year-I-want-to-get-Christmas-started-early, I convinced my husband the other day to make our annual trek to the Christmas tree farm a good week earlier than we usually do.

It was actually a more complicated process than it might sound, requiring quite a bit of unexpected research. It started when we got a mailing from the farm we usually patronize, informing us that the price for a cut-your-own tree was going up from $35 to $50.

That was a bit of a shocker. And it got us thinking that we might need to shop around.

I start asking friends for recommendations, hoping to find someplace a bit more reasonable. Long story short, those places do exist, but most of them are too far afield to make it worth the gas money trade-off. Because so many people recommended Woody Acres — which happens to be about three miles from our house — we ultimately decided to go there, even though their trees also cost $50. Our original choice seemed to be getting picked over a bit anyway.

I was blown away by the incredible selection of beautiful trees I saw there. It only took us 15 minutes, and only a few steps off a main path, to find a great tree, so perfectly shaped that it looks like it came from a movie. My eyes were a bit bigger than my Christmas tree nook, however, and we had to angle and shove it in much like the Grinch tried to shove a Christmas tree up the chimney.

A lot of you out there probably still have to find your perfect tree, and I know that this weekend will be a busy one for tree shoppers. So if you need to shop around, here are some local options. You’ll want to check their websites or Facebook pages to check pricing and see if they have pre-cut, cut-your-own, or both.

• Woody Acres, 1530 Harris Rd., Penfield
• Creekedge Farm Market, 683 Ridge Rd., Webster
• Tom’s Terrific Christmas Trees, 1461 Marchner Rd., Webster
• Bauman’s Farm Market, 1340 Five Mile Line Rd., Webster
• Wilbert’s Christmas Tree Farm, 1325 Salt Rd., Webster
• Kunz’s Tree Farm, 959 Five Mile Line Rd., Webster
• Agway Gardens, 1225 Empire Blvd., Webster

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

I decided to put up my house Christmas decorations yesterday. It was about two weeks earlier than I normally decorate every year, but of course this is far from a normal year. I rationalized that now more than ever we need something uplifting in our lives, and looking at Christmas decorations always brightens my heart.

It’s obvious I’m not the only one who’s thinking this way. On our regular walks through the neighborhood, my husband and I are seeing more and more lights and decorations going up. He likened the early displays to the rainbows everyone was chalking on their sidewalks or posting in their windows in the spring. “It helps mark the beginning of the end of this dumpster fire of a year,” was I think the way he put it (although he used a more appropriate term instead of “dumpster fire.”)

I would love to help spread the happiness by highlighting some of the best holiday displays here in my blog. Perhaps it could be the “12 Days of Holiday Happiness” series or something like that.

But to do that, I need your help. If you know of a particularly nice display in your neighborhood, please drop me an email. Or perhaps you’re proud of what you’ve done at your own home. Send me an email! I’ll come out and take a photo, then tell everyone about it.

And don’t forget that the Webster Museum is looking for great holiday photos for their gallery.

They explain on their website,

What brings you joy? Do you dress up your pets? Make your own ornaments or special treats? Decorate your house or yard? Have family traditions? If it makes you happy, it will make others happy too!

Take a photo, then share it with all of Webster in one of two ways. You can email your photo to photos@webstermuseum.org or upload them (on the website).

I sent one in, picturing my family’s unusual tradition of stripping our shoes and socks off and walking barefoot in the snow. If you’re interested in seeing that weirdness, check it out on the museum website.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

Halloween, like life in general this year, is going to look very different.

This awful virus is throwing a monkey wrench into plans to take the kids out trick-or-treating; there are real concerns about maintaining social distancing, staying masked, handling candy that a lot of others have handled … basically all the issues we’ve been living with for the past 7 months.

But of course, if you’re a kid, Halloween ranks up there with Christmas as the best holiday of the entire year. So I’m sure there are going to be a lot of trick-or-treaters out there Saturday, hand-in-hand with parents who’ll be making sure they stay safe and healthy.

I also know there will be a lot of homeowners ready to welcome them. Some have come with very creative candy-delivery systems to help make the whole experience safer.

Like this downspout-turned-candy-chute created by my friend David Peter:

I’m not quite that clever. But I will be taking advantage of Saturday evening’s not-necessary-warm-but-also-not-raining weather to sit outside in my driveway to welcome any trick-or-treaters who decide to come out.

I’ve been looking forward to this night for a whole year. Last year, my first one in our new village home, I felt like I really got cheated. We were told to expect several hundred visitors, and that often homeowners would set up tents and fire pits outside to hand out candy. So I was prepared with both the candy and the fire pit.

But as you may recall, the weather last year was awful: rainy, cold and very windy. So we retreated to our enclosed front porch, which was OK, but was not the village Halloween experience we’d been promised.

This year we’re looking forward to trying again.

I certainly understand if you’ve decided to do something else for Halloween in lieu of trick-or-treating. But anyone who comes down Fuller Ave. will be welcomed at our fire pit, and invited to take a few pieces of candy off the table we’ll set up at an appropriate social distance.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.