By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have picked, cut, and transported our Christmas tree home. We will have run a few errands and delivered gifts to the family of one of our gang, who is celebrating Christmas early. For us, the advent candles are burning down and the reminders that Christmas is closer and closer is a comfort, an anchor in these crazy days of COVID and the madness that has accompanied it. 

I am guessing this comfort is the same, at different times of the year, for those of other traditions, who might be celebrating this time of year, Hanukkah just recently, and Eid, later in the year. (And it will be winding down today at 4 p.m., but the Bristol’s 35th annual Winter Wonderland event at Rockwell Park, featuring crafts & activities, will be celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Winter Solstice, and New Year’s among other traditions.) 

We have gotten trees later than this, but rarely. We called around some local places and most were down to a single tree if that, so we took a ride to a farm tree that is new to us, and then, with the tree tied to the top of the Fusion, the two of us drove out to celebrate Uncle Charlie’s 53rd birthday, before winding our way back home. 

In you are wondering about the results of our PCR tests, both Mary and I tested negative for COVID for which we are thankful, especially with the holiday season nearly upon us. 

The Christmas music continues 24/7, offering a nice break from the radio, which typically is tuned to NPR, and the news cycle. A little in the morning and some around dinner time works for me, although I do check in with the New York Times and The Atlantic, regularly, along with some podcasts that I have shared with you. 

It’s good to disengage every so often, not entirely. For instance, I glanced at the agenda for this week’s City Council meeting and two items jump out at me, one is not a surprise, and the other is: the first and not a surprise, the purchase and sale agreement between the City of Bristol and Wheeler Clinic, and the second, a surprise, a motion to rescind the Project Labor Agreement for Renovations to City Hall. 

The purchase agreement is pretty well represented on the agenda, having been linked to the presentation from earlier in the year and under the former administration. Last meeting, the new council had the item on its agenda and it was pushed back to this meeting.  

The Project Labor Agreement link only includes the motion to rescind it. What I will say is that if the council and mayor rescind this agreement, which calls for a percent of the work to be performed by union workers and local workers, along with some apprenticeships for local residents, it is very short-sighted. Not only such a move short-sighted, it is also disingenuous since rescinding it increases the chances of cost-overruns, from shoddy work. 

That is something to take into consideration. Here is another, even Republican luminaries such as the mayors of both Danbury and New Britain have commented, on the record, that they would only conduct city work under Project Labor Agreements. 

For this week’s listening/reading, how about something a little out of the routine. In this week’s On Being with Krista Tippett, the English author Katherine May discusses “wintering.”  The introduction to the podcast begins, “In so many stories and fables that shape us, cold and snow, the closing in of the light — these have deep psychological, as much as physical, reality.” Click here. 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.