Plenty of things were wrong with 2020: Trump was presiding by tweeting up a growing insurrection, protests erupted on streets across America in response to police brutality to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other black victims, and COVID shut down most of the world while we were on a cruise in the Southern hemisphere.
With our trip interrupted as we were approaching Tasmania, followed by a hurried flight home in coach, we began months of social distancing, wearing masks when out in public, washing hands, staying safe and railing against a president who treated the pandemic as if it didn't exist.
Living in Oak Park softened this ordeal some, with our expansive view of the city, shopping nearby, plenty of sidewalks for exercise and online worship services to produce. But it's hard to enjoy life at a distance.
The inspiration for this year's wrap was COVID itself. The gift itself needed to be small. A plastic egg that once housed a LEGO-type kit would fit inside a COVID sculpture. We didn't have enough clay on hand or any plaster, so another medium was needed. Used coffee grounds were dried and clay was made by adding salt, flour and water. The online recipe called for way too much water, so the amount of flour and salt had to be doubled. But once the dough was the right consistency the egg with its contents was placed in the middle of a ball of dough and left to dry.
Air drying produced cracks in the clay and trying to maintain the round shape proved impossible. To get this over more quickly, the oven was heated to 200 and the clay ball constantly rotated to avoid getting a flat side. After about three hours, the lopsided ball was removed to cool, along with its contents. Sayings from 2020 were scrawled across the surface: "It is what it is," social distancing, Zoom, "I can't breathe" a litany of the things we were living. (By the way, the clay was still damp on the inside when Pat cut it open.)
As for the gift itself: a herd of goats and a peep (yes, looked it up) of chicks donated in Pat's name to those who need it. Purchased on Giving Tuesday, the gift was matched, so it really was the equivalent of a dozen goats and who knows how many peeps doing someone good in this world. To remember the gift, inside the egg was nestled a friendship bracelet with a sterling silver ram--and on the tree there appeared a handcrafted goat ornament made of felted sheep's wool.
