It’s that strange and faintly magical week between Christmas and New Year’s when normal life is suspended.
And while Toledo might not have the holiday spectacles of New York or Chicago, it does have a lot of people all too ready to kick back with their loved ones and enjoy the holiday week in a lower key.
What do people here do with this time?
“Go on a date!” exclaimed Toledoan Beth Taylor, who was, in fact, on her first date with Michigander Michael Pirkle at the Franklin Park Mall food court. “And I clean my house and spend time with my four grandchildren and take them to the zoo.”
Mr. Pirkle agreed wholeheartedly with the idea that the last week of the year is a great time for housecleaning — and first dates. But he had a dim view of what his kids liked to do during the holiday week.
“They just want to stay in and be on their phones all day,” he said, “so they don’t want to go out.”
Ms. Taylor nodded in sympathetic agreement. Maybe the two of them are made for each other.
“Not work — that’s for sure,” Annie Momsen-Stymiest said with a chuckle when asked about her plans for the week. “But on New Year’s Eve, I go out for an early dinner and a show — a movie or a play — with my husband.”