Living

The pandemic has ensured that this year many more stockings will be hung on the East End over the holidays. Whether you're hunkered down for your first East End winter or are an old-timer innovating traditions in light of Covid-19, here's how to make the most of things.

"This recipe is one of my favorite things to make" for the winter solstice, says Juli Everett. Not only is the soup delicious, but its ingredients are colorful, warm, and earthy — a perfect way to welcome back the sun.

The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, is also a day that many people celebrate as a spiritual holiday, to gather with a small group of close friends or family and welcome back the sun. This year, it will be Monday, Dec. 21, according to the Farmer's Almanac.

At least we have the holidays to bring a bit of cheer. If you need a few tips to set the mood, the South Fork's musicians have no shortage of suggestions.

This year, haven't we had enough of turning inward already? And hibernating? Been there, done that . . . for what seems like forever. This should be the winter of not hibernating.

You're not really thinking of throwing some big holiday parties this year, are you? No, of course not. However, it's likely that you may be stopping by friends' and families' houses, and maybe expecting some folks and kin yourself, for low-key, safe-distance entertaining.

Carli Victoria Costello and Brian Francis Allmendinger were married on Oct. 10 in the backyard of the bride's grandfather Gary Richard in Bay Shore.

Waiting for his sweet-and-sour soup by the window of a Chinese takeout a few weeks ago, he had a brief encounter that left him longing for another, an instant connection with a woman who also loved the opera, but her number went missing, so he turned to the classifieds.

Nicholas David Miller and Lisa Mandl were married at home in East Hampton on Oct. 6. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky officiated.

Mr. Miller, a son of Mary Cecila Koncelik Miller and Phillip David Miller, grew up in East Hampton and is the vice president of the Miller Building Company here.

The bride holds a bachelor's degree in interpreting and a master's degree in global studies. She is from Austria. Her mother, Karla Mandl, still lives there. Her father is deceased.

As the pandemic continues, temperatures drop, and people prepare to spend more time indoors, East End homeowners are clamoring to upgrade ventilation systems with air filters and purifiers, among other devices to keep their homes as Covid-safe as possible.

Lys Marigold and Dianne Benson of East Hampton Village were married on Saturday in a small ceremony at St. Luke's Episcopal Church by the Very Rev. Denis C. Brunelle, who celebrated the wedding Mass at 5 p.m.

Liz Waller, the daughter of Julie Pospisil Waller of Springs and the late Tom Waller, and Kameron Whitmeyer, the son of Kerry and Paula Whitmeyer of Lafayette, La., became engaged on July 2 at Springs-Fireplace Beach.

The couple met while attending Tulane University and now live and work in New Orleans. Ms. Waller works for the software company Accruent, and Mr. Whitmeyer is an attorney at Scott, Vicknair, Hair & Checki.