11.26.06
Posted in Laughs, Christmas at 10:29 pm by Administrator
For those who are prone to send out Christmas letters, one word of advice: don’t. Christmas letters are of two varieties: those associated with bragging, and those pain in the neck ones that literally describe in great detail every single bruise, injury, operation, disease, and malady known to man and make one wonder how this all could happen to one extended family.
Now, I’m not saying we don’t care that Renfrew finally graduated summa cum laude, speaks ten languages, and was voted Best Bowler of his graduating class. We salute accomplishments.
We are also not saying that we don’t care that the dog died, the car is making sounds as though it is going to do the same, the rent is due and there’s no money. We care.
My point is this, if we have not heard from these same people all year long, while events were occurring, why are we expected to be thrilled to share every ache, pain, and trip to the dentist, or glorious trip to Austria at the end of the year? Seems that there should be more of a point of connection during the year, so that we would not have to have our Christmas holiday cluttered up with all of these concerns. We care, but could we do so at another time? Do we really know WHO is sending this Christmas greeting?
Never mind -that’s just another one of my stupid rhetorical questions.
By the way, we’ve written our own Christmas letter this year. I hope it is interesting to those who see it. We might even post it online, when the holiday is more close at hand. We had to write it, in self-defense!
For the most part, Christmas cards do a good job of sharing the good will of the season with your fellow man. Just sign your name, put a stamp on the envelope and mail it. You’ll be doing countless people a big favor if you don’t provide an update about the bunion treatment that worked, or how your fingers got broken, in a fall, and you can no longer use them to lift potato chips to mouth.
Disclaimer: This announcement is not directed toward any particular person and the writer is wholly responsible for its content.
Aw, go on. Write a great Christmas letter this year, but please, make it comical, and folks, please send me a copy.
Pat 
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Posted in Anecdotes at 2:17 am by Administrator
I have a delightful and very dear, ninety year old friend. She is dying, or so she has been told repeatedly for several years now. She is on and off of hospice care, and on and off with visiting nurse care. I call her as often as I can, without seeming to be a pest. Her mind is keen, and above all, she has retained a sense of humor.
The other day, after she questioned me about what I’d been “getting into lately,” I asked her how things were going with her. She still lives in her own home. She said, “Well, you know, I have these babysitters every night. In the morning, they have to fill out a log book as to what I have been doing…every little detail.”
She sighed and continued, “This morning, the girl didn’t know what to write, so I said, “Write this down: The client was restless and wanted to drive around all night in my car to look for a street we could walk on, but unfortunately, all the streets had been rolled up.” She laughingly reported that the girl had written that down, as instructed.
Isn’t humor a marvelous thing? For my friend, it has gotten her through the rough spots. No matter how bad anything is, she finds a way to look at the situation in a humorous way. No, “the sky is falling, the sky is falling,” for that spry one!
I sure will miss my friend. I am not ready to lose her yet. Perhaps, I am being selfish about that. I appreciate how she has a way of taking the weight of the world off of my shoulders. They say that laughter is the best medicine.
On my front page, I have a quotation, “Laugh at yourself and you will be forever amused.” Enjoy humor and you will walk with a lighter step.
By the way, watch out for those ninety year olds who aspire to go street walking at night!
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11.25.06
Posted in Travel, Christmas at 12:41 am by Administrator
Christmas was in the air on November 23, 2006 when the little town of Littleton, New Hampshire celebrated the beginning of the holiday season with a downtown parade. A marching band, bedecked in red, looked and sounded very festive. Also marching was a junior ROTC unit, a fine looking group of young people in uniform, standing straight and looking very professional.
A float carried “Mary and the baby Jesus, and Joseph,” accompanied by a crowd of other youngsters and “shepherds.”
The brass band above did a great job and seemed to be comprised of the senior crowd.
The “Grinch,” probably waiting to steal Christmas again, could be seen on the back of the neatest little red car I’ve ever seen in my life. It looked like a miniature dune buggy, and he was able to stand upright on the back of it.
Several politicians were walking the route, accompanied by vehicles, and they warmly greeted the crowd.
Another lady was walking along with bags of candy and every time she saw children, she reached in her bag and threw a handful of candies their way.
The parade was over in a flash but it had been adequate to draw a crowd downtown. Afterwards, people were seen entering stores and restaurants, and going to a craft fair at a downtown church. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits.
We often eat at the Oasis Restaurant, whenever we are in town. However, on this particular day, we were not in the mood for Italian food. We decided to try “Topic of the Town.” We found the food there to be excellent and priced right.
After that, we stopped by the Grist Mill to pick up some muffin mix and a bag of Balsam. Jim took some great pictures of the Amonoosuc River behind the mill, looking both upstream and downstream, from a covered bridge that has a walkway and is just for people.
The day warmed up, and as we got into the car to leave, I noticed some Box Elder “bugs” on the side of a concrete wall, in the sun. They were grouped together closely, and I’d never seen so many altogether like that. Luckily, those were the only “bugs” on our day trip.
Small town life in New Hampshire is great. I am not sure what the population of Littleton is. It is certainly a smaller area than say, Portsmouth, Manchester, Concord, Nashua, or Keene.
We like the flavor of the north country. Littleton’s downtown area has some very upscale shopping such as a superb cooking store, a terrific bookstore, and many other little specialty shops.
Thought you might enjoy the photos.
Pat and Jim
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