From November through a rainy, cold spring, the agreement with our neighbors was unspoken. Holiday string lights on porches and outdoor trees stayed up. Those twinkly lights still bring me comfort, even as the days get sunnier and freer.

There have been other holiday holdovers. Sometimes I’ll rewatch the festive series “Dash & Lily” on Netflix late at night. And we finally saw the “Great British Bake-Off” New Year’s special featuring the cast of “Derry Girls” long after ringing in 2021.

In that episode, the actors are challenged to make smoked salmon and beetroot blinis straight out of the Before Times. Passing around a plate of picturesque hors d’oeuvres? For more than a year, our “appetizers” were often chips we ate over the sink.