To paraphrase Ramses II: She for whom the Christmas tree does shines its brightest. (And her mother.)
Well, heck, it’s Christmas time again. This is the third Christmas without Linda,
and I seem to be missing her more all the time. She loved the holidays, and her enthusiasm
transmitted itself to all around her, making things special. It won’t be that much fun this year, but I
know she would want me to give it a try, and I am. I spent Thanksgiving with Carolyn (and stayed
on for her birthday), and in a few days I am going to Cordova for Christmas and
New Year’s. There I will meet my two
great grandbabies, Seamus and Evelyn, for the first time, and also enjoy the
company of my three granddaughters, one daughter – and, of course, their
various male support staff. It should be
a blast. Still, Linda’s little ornaments
will spend another year in their box. I
urge you all to consider making an end-of-year contribution to cancer
research. Go to
and do it to honor Linda.
Write something in the “guest book”, too.
I am planning to cover the back of this page with pictures,
so let me use the rest of this side to tell you what I’ve been doing, and what
the immediate future holds. I did get
away from Bellingham some during 2013, but not to anywhere exotic. I did the usual rain-avoidance stint in
Borrego Springs; and I also had a great week in Flagstaff with Kristen and
Joe. I like that country (the Colorado
Plateau and the Big Rez), and I hope to return frequently. I have spent a considerable amount of time
and energy in Seattle, trying to help out with ovarian cancer research. As all of you probably already know, I am a
volunteer with the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research (where I am
trying to help Dr. Rivkin himself with various writing projects), and also a
“research advocate” with the ovarian program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center. Other than that I just hang out
in Bellingham, trying to keep the house livable and the cats fed. So far I have succeeded – with the help of Molly
for the first task, and Bunny and David for the second. When I am in Seattle I stay with Karen, and
we explore the café and movie scene. And
that’s about it. Not very exciting? Hell, I’m 80 – a weekly beer with the boys
fills all my social needs, darned near.
As for the future, well, hell, I get to have another joint
replaced. January 10th is the
date, and the weeks before that are filling up with things I need to do – joint
replacement class, stop medications, start other ones, see the doctor, see the
nurse, make out will, etc., etc. When I got my first tin hip, maybe 20 years
ago, I don’t recall all this fuss. I’m
sure it all is helpful – and of course it also helps guarantee full employment
in the medical professions. So, anyway,
recovery time for an OF is of the order of six weeks, so I may not be able to
spend much (or any) time in Borrego Springs this winter. I should be recovered enough for Karen and me
to take our planned trip: visit Kristen and Joe in Flag, then tour Indian
Country. I will wear my bola tie and
Navajo silver belt buckle and fit right in.
(Hosteen Myrl, I will be.) After
that – no clue. Continue to help out in
Seattle. Keep adding to my blog*. Keep drinking beer with the boys. Keep the house passable until Linda and Paul
buy it and I can move into a nice mobile
home with no stairs. And make sure my
fat cats are healthy. Pretty damned
exciting, don’t you think?
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So anyway, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
And P.S., to keep me in my place the Blogger robot won't let me post the second page.
