Lammas AKA “Loaf-Mass” AKA “First Grain Harvest” is a Christian observation in some countries and a Pagan observation in others that occurs on August 1st. I’ve never celebrated it before, but I serendipitously invited myself to a friend’s house on this day, which conveniently enough fell on a Saturday.
Since I sell CBD, I recently started a new promotion: if someone participated in a Zoom presentation about the CBD company I’m associated with, then they’d receive a free 7ml bottle of sublingual CBD.
Initially, I was going to mail her the bottle, but the very next morning, the news reported how the USPS was backlogged. That spooked me. When I texted her that I’d deliver the bottle Saturday afternoon, she told me to come with an appetite. This turned into more than I bargained for.
My friend lives with her two kids, husband and parents.
Since the quarantine, they’ve been taking this pandemic as seriously as I have. Even though I hugged my friend as soon as she opened the door, the only other person I hugged was her husband. Except he hesitated. “Have you been sick?” he asked, crouching as if he’d pounce on me had I said yes. We embraced one another after I confirmed that I’d been healthy, but just to tease him, I fake coughed afterwards.
I only verbally greeted everyone else, but of course I had to take a picture of the little lady of the house. Plus, I made sure to sit in the same spot and I did not use the bathroom. That last part was challenging since I lived about an hour away. Who knew waiting for long periods of time to use the bathroom during those marathon bus rides as a Peace Corps Volunteer was a transferable skill? Lord knows, I didn’t overstay my welcome.
My friend perfected this homemade apple bread recipe during the pandemic.
As a matter of fact, the bread was the only part of the Lammas offering that we ate.
She cut up communion-sized pieces of bread, read a brief description of the observance along with giving thanks for the first harvest, then we all ate a piece of bread. Short and sweet, followed by a sip of strawberry peach mimosa with Proseco–my contribution to the occasion. I didn’t know how this celebration was normally observed, but I knew mimosas went with brunch.
Afterwards, she fixed my plate: a Colombian rice and meat dish with three types of meat.
Heaven! She remarked how that dish was so easy to whip up and I laughed because it would have taken me hours to prepare.
I’d packed my silver chalice, bathing suit and a towel.
This brunch invitation served as a mini summer vacation day trip. I’d not even had a staycation. So, this counted.
Like any true vacation, there was an unforeseen factor: they’d drained their pool for a cleaning, which was just as well since I’d already made up my mind not to use their bathroom and have too much class to pee in the pool.
Nonetheless the drive, the in-person visit, and libations were all vacation-wonderful. No matter how long a vacation lasts, it’s all worth it to temporarily vacate the humdrum of my pandemic quarantine life.