Resolve...

I really think I finally turned the corner on my sickness that began 2 weeks ago with stopped up ears and crescendoed with the double whammy then finished up with pneumonia. My strength is a little better and I can see enough strength that I should be able to get back on my bike this week. But the weather calls for cold. Tomorrow, we go see the TSO show for New Year's. That should be great. Glad I'm feeling better for it.

It is the time for Resolutions. I made some for last year that I didn't get to do. I had intended to do a week long backpack trip that fell through with my friends. This year I may have to schedule it for myself. I did accomplish a lot of reading that I resolved to do. Some of those books were pretty heavy reading. This year I am leaning toward learning music.

Ghosts of Christmas....

David left the house last night with the red tractor tucked under his arm. He had commended my work with a "You did well, Diddlee". Max rolled his tractor around the living room floor. That is to say, he rolled it around until the paper and packages and boxes blocked his way. Christmas was very good to the boys. Max is much too little to understand what was happening, but David uttered cries of delight over and over as the wrappings came off many toys he had wished for. I tried to remember a favorite Christmas but couldn't. I have the photos of one Christmas where I got a cowboy shirt, guns, hat, and a riding tractor. That might have been the best of all Christmases but I don't really remember any specifics.

Dickens' Christmas Carol is a Holiday Favorite. We all know the story where a flinty, joyless E. Scrooge is visited by spirits who show him the error of his way and turn him into a kinder man. What kind of visit would I receive?

The spirit of Christmas past:

David marveled at the load of presents under the tree. Most of the large packages were for him. I was witnessing in him the ghost of my special Christmases from so long ago. The little boy in pajamas sitting on the red pedal tractor wearing the cowboy hat and six-guns. Those moments of pleasure have faded from my memory. I have no recollection of them even when I see the photos of myself. But the photos depicted joy. So it makes me wonder if there is lasting value in Christmas presents. But through my Grandchildren, my past is on display. The look in those little eyes.
The pleasure of my Christmas past didn't belong to me, it belonged to MY Grandmother and Parents. Christmas past was good.

The spirit of Christmas present:

Lately I wind up alone on Christmas day. My work rotation puts me working 6 consecutive years on Christmas day. People get sick, they need hospitals. Just a fact of living. So here I am but it makes for good thinking time. What is different about this Christmas for me? Everything. The holiday has lost the "heaven comes to earth" for me.


The spirit of Christmas future:

Uncle lay there in the hospital bed. His face was wan and tired. His pneumonia was being treated with powerful antibiotics which made sense because he was sick almost unto death. At times he thought he was at home. He ate small bites of food too tired to really eat and lacking appetite to care. After a few bites, he was too tired to continue and asked to be laid back so he could sleep again. No sign from him about the imminent holiday season. Just too sick to care. He mentioned his Bible. Right now his thoughts were on what is coming next. Realizing that his time is nearly spent. Hoping all his efforts up to this point were sufficient to his Master to allow him paradise.

the reification of the zero

I wanted to share with you about a gift I received this Christmas. You can see it at this link. I received...

.... NOTHING.

It seemed like the perfect gift for the person who has everything. It is profound. It is amazing really. Think of the most valuable thing in the world, or even the universe. Then of course, what could be more valuable, NOTHING, right! What is better than wonderful friends and a family that loves you? Uh, NOTHING? But I realize that that this stuff could be dangerous. What if someone were to eat this. I've heard of people who ate NOTHING and died! I don't know how much NOTHING it took and I really don't know how much NOTHING is in that package. I have to be concerned about handling this stuff properly. Some people think NOTHING is "sacred". What if I were to offend someone? What if it has an effect on my personality. If you asked me what could make me lie or cheat or steal or what would make me betray my sacred word? OH MY GOODNESS! NOTHING!

Then I saw it! There on the back of the package in small print it says... made in China. (I thought EVERYTHING was made in China not NOTHING?) You know this could be part of a sinister plot. First they exposed us to lead in kids toys and toothpaste, now NOTHING. That's got me spooked so right now I am looking for a good place to put my NOTHING.

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After much thought I think the best plan is to put the NOTHING in a secure place considering the potential for disaster it represents. Looking at the package closely, I see that there is a crack in the container and now I don't know if NOTHING is in there or not. And I'm not sure how to go about catching it. Think about it, what travels faster than the speed of light? In desperation I vacuumed the whole living room and then swept a couple of times. On my last sweeping, to my great relief, I found NOTHING in the dust pan. So not taking any chances, I threw the whole thing in a trash bag, tied it up, and tossed it in the garbage can outside just to be safe. I think that should take care of it, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

I've done my best to rid us of this menace, but if NOTHING happens to any of you in this coming year, don't come blaming me!

It won't be long now...

I was thinking today that it won't be long now till the Florida Bike Safari. I was looking to see if the registration forms were available and found this photo of Mike and I from 2006. That was the year we took David down in the Pop-up camper. That was a good year. Now Bev rides tandem with me. We have lots of fun on the bikes. We even ride off-road together. Sweet.

Reunion