We've Gone From This...

...to this...

...in a day. 

How quickly the holidays pass!  Truly an eyeblink and they're gone for another year.

But that's ok...Karen's the hostess with the mostest, and we truly enjoy opening our home to family and friends, but after hosting 3 parties in 3 days, we're ok with moving out of...

...and embracing regular life again.

the slogan popularized during the 1800's industrial revolution, when a 12 to 14 hour work day was common

Most of our Christmas decor goes up over the course of a week or so.

We usually put up the outside stuff first - 

...then Christmas knick knacks and inside trees -

- but when Karen switches into de-decorate gear, it all comes down and gets stored away in one day.

I'm exhausted.

grudgingly switching to winter now

I've arrived at the age where I no longer celebrate birthdays...

...I endure them.

That's not to say I'm ungrateful for being given another year.

On the contrary, I'm very thankful indeed.

I want to remain topside of planet earth for however long God ordains; not a minute less nor a second longer.

And as you may have surmised by the tenor of this epistle, it's that time again.

So...what do I want for my birthday this year?

How about a do-over.

Is that too much to ask?

I'd like to rewind if I may, and not be such a jerk this time around (and that's quite enough from the "Amen Corner".)

* I'll be kinder to those around me, more understanding of others' needs and desires and less focused on my own.

* I'll also be a better husband and a wiser father.

* This time I'll be more thoughtful of my wife, less of a disciplinarian to my sons, and more of a provider and helper to both.

* I'll put in less hours at the office, and spend more time on the things that matter in life: relationships.

* I'll make it a priority to read God's Word and pray, giving thanks to my heavenly Father for salvation through faith in Christ, and I'll be more devoted to the people God brings into my life and places in my care.

* And perhaps most of all in this my deutero-life, I'll say what needs to be said instead of waiting, foolishly believing there will always be another time to tell someone I love them when the truth is we never know if we - or they - have tomorrow.

Yes, I know; that's a birthday wish that will remain unfulfilled...sadly there is no going back.

I suppose that means I'll just have to work on doing all those things today and every day for however much of the future God grants me.

Sounds as much like a New Year's resolution...

...as it does a birthday wish.

So then, if that implies I still get a birthday wish...

rough looking bunch from 1864...includes both <Young and Old Tom Morris>...the lad on the top left with his hand on his dad's shoulder

...how about a better hickory golf game?'

Par would be nice.

That's it, I simply can't justify continuing this pointless abuse of innocent readers.

Time to 23 Skidoo out of here:

"let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me"

front page of Karen's hometown newspaper...love it

the Christmas tree at our next home, an American 4 square...Lord willing

Larry sent me a version of this meme...I can definitely relate

a very cool gift from my stepdaugher, Amy...a retro mcm tissue dispenser...love the Marilyn Monroe zeitgeist

yeah...what can I say?  missing summer for sure

Standing on the cusp of another year, and with it will come the usual spate of issues and problems.

As we prepare ourselves to face the challenges ahead, remember this encouragement from God's Word:

                        - Isaiah 40:30,31

later, mcm fans...

110 Years Ago Today...

...soldiers in trenches initiated a <Joyeux Noel>. 

There was nothing formal or official about this temporary cease-fire, nothing negotiated at the top of the food chain by the leaders of the nations at war.

It was just a spontaneous act on the part of men away from home, engaged at the very beginning of what would come to be known as "The Great War" and "The War To End All Wars".

Those were misnomers of course, and this brief interlude in the insanity of mechanized slaughter on a scale previously unknown to mankind did not, could not last.

But for much of that Christmas Day 110 years ago, men laid down arms and put aside differences, met each other in the middle, shook hands...

...exchanged small gifts and enjoyed a welcome if too brief respite from the insane business of death.

It did not last, of course - nothing man made can or ever will last - but it did capture, however briefly, the essence of this holiday.

God sent His Son for our salvation, and the day will come when "the government shall be upon His shoulder".

In that time, yet future, there will be peace on earth, good will to men...The Prince of Peace will make it so.

Until that day we soldier on in this broken world, seeking solace and peace wherever it may be found, however briefly.

I hope you and yours were able to gather on this holy day and experience the peace and hope of God and the blessings of friends and family.

Merry Christmas, mcm fans...

What Does A 4 Year Old Do…

...when he doesn’t want to listen to you?  

He covers his ears, of course.

It's a childish response that we expect but should not tolerate from immature children.

Incredibly, that's exactly what <General Postmaster Louis Dejoy> did in response to criticism leveled at him about his dandy performance as top banana at the USPS.

Under his expert guidance <they lost $9.5 billion> this year - $3 billion more than last year - yet when asked how would grade his performance, he gave himself an A.

The expected - and probably well-deserved - verbal lashing soon began, and that's when he literally covered his ears.

I'm surprised he didn't also start chanting "I'm not listening!" -

great movie and you gotta love Billy Crystal

- a la Miracle Max in The Princess Bride.

Apparently he only looks like an adult; emotionally, he's still in diapers.

If you've ever wondered "what the heck is wrong with the US Postal Service?" -

- now you know.

Winding down a fairly big tech change on the home front.

2 weeks ago during a snow storm, some unfortunate hammered an AT&T substation housing cables and equipment that provided internet to our neighborhood.

probably should have taken the bus at exit 2 instead

After that we were without internet and our land line, and I was struggling daily to connect to work with an unreliable hotspot.

Since they could neither fix it nor provide an ETA, we eventually gave up and switched from AT&T to Spectrum for internet.

Ok, go ahead and yawn...

...I'm bored, too...but I will say, prior to this egregious outage, we had a pretty good run with AT&T.

Theirs was a unique setup between internet, a land line, and DirecTV that wirelessly broadcast their TV signal within our home.

7 years ago it took a lot of equipment to have cable TV without all the cables...that's a wireless transmitter on the left, and all connections for the receivers near the TV's scattered throughout our home.  I should note the colored vases are not technically necessary for this setup...

But here's the thing...Spectrum's cable modem and wifi router now take the place of all that equipment and all those wires.

Amazing.

We subscribed to Youtube TV to replace DirecTV, and...

...to handle our land line.

my favorite phone of all time: 1927 Western Electric 102-B1 rotary dial.  doubles nicely as a blunt heavy object in an emergency.

Besides eliminating the tech equipment sprawl, we also reduced monthly expenses.

So all of this moves us firmly into the camp of those who have cut the cable for TV, and I suppose we owe a debt of gratitude to whoever crashed into AT&T's substation.

So here's to you, hapless stranger!

You simplified our tech footprint and saved us a few simoleons to boot.

You may remember a few years ago Karen and I toured a lovely <Gatsby House> when we were tempted to do something stupid, like buy it.

Cooler heads prevailed, we took a pass on it, and the owners eventually settled for $125K less than their original asking price.

Well 'Tis The Season and we happened across this enchanting picture of the Gatsby House on social media, all lit up for Christmas:

love the garland and all the wreaths

Delightfully art deco, a true treat for the eyes, but still happy we didn't overreach and buy it.

Hard to believe, but it's even more overpriced today than it was then.

It's also still on a too busy street, still sitting shoulder to shoulder next to homes half its value, and still looking at the backsides of mansions on the other side of the street...and those folks are the ones with the million $$ view of the lake.

Lord willing, our next place will have a little more land around it...

that'll do

...and be a little farther out in the country than we are now.

Or not; we'll see what God has in mind for us when that time comes.

"You know," Karen offered the other night, "in less than a week it's Christmas, and in less than 2 weeks it's New Years."

"Thanks," I replied, "in one brief sentence you just dispatched what's left of 2024."

But she's right...it's all racing upon us...

 

...and will soon be in the rearview mirror.

I've often lamented how quickly time slips through our fingers as we age.

Part of that is no doubt simple mathematics:

When you're 10 years old, a year is fully 10% of your entire existence topside of planet earth, so it takes for-ev-er to get through another.

As I rapidly close in on 7 decades, another year is barely 1.4% of my life so yeah...that zips on by a whole lot faster than when I was a kid.

Some of it is probably also experience...over time it's easy to succumb to the "been there done that" syndrome and become dismissive of people and events.

When you mentally / emotionally press the fast forward button because "there's nothing new here" you end up missing out on details that actually matter.

And a pretty significant piece of this unpleasant puzzle is simply the era in which we live:

Life really is moving faster than ever before.

In the early days of my career, if a customer needed info "right now", we copied files to mag tape...

...boxed it up and sent it out UPS Next Day Air, hoping they'd get it within 24 to 48 hours (weekends excluded).

Now we expect instantaneous results, and amazingly, often get them.

Email, ftp, text messaging, instant messaging...the list of options goes on, but they've all come with a cost:

The lines between work and leisure are blurred, often beyond recognition.

When was the last time you really and truly "unplugged"?

(Note: forgetting where you left your cell phone...

...for a few panic stricken moments doesn't count.)

None of us can stay the inexorable forward march of time, but all of us can commit to being present in each moment and making the most of however much time God gives us here.

Moses knew of what he spoke, and we would be wise to take heed.

As we put on our running shoes in preparation for what's next, please note:

Even though I did in fact swing my hickories several times this past week...

l to r: walking stick/club stand, long spoon, short spoon, lofting iron, putter

...I spared you the details.

You're welcome; let's 23 Skidoo, and start with some Twitchy memes...

Ahhh!  Turn it off!   Turn it off!

exciting!  but they better not mess with the happy endings

if they promise to keep her, they can call her anything they want

...segue to the funny pages...

 

if I knew what any of that meant I'm sure I'd be impressed

in the "so bad it's good" department

no worries...the next time won't be a flood...see <2 Peter 3:10>

...and finish with a few random pics of life in the slow lane:

not positive how a Christmas gnome and a large ceramic cat landed under my mcm aluminum Christmas tree, but I'm about to round up the usual suspect.

early morning view of our courtyard after a recent snow...

...and of our backyard

Less than a week 'til the big day...shopping all done?  Gifts all wrapped?  Cards sent, house decorated, treats made, carols sung, Christmas specials / movies watched, and all the stuff you forgot to do done?

Either way, you're probably about as ready as you're going to be.

I say we take a load off, relax for a few and meditate on why we celebrate this joyous holiday...

...what do you say?

Merry Almost Christmas, mcm fans...