To Whine, or Not To Whine

My tree this year is an 18" decoration I picked up at Target close to 30 years ago. I couldn't be bothered setting up the big tree. So, is it time for my annual self-indulgent Christmas whine? You bet it is! This time of year always causes those feelings to resurface, and it's not as …

Welcoming the Doldrums

Now that the holidays are over, we coast into the doldrums of January, February, and March, that long stretch with no holidays or long weekends (well, some of you get Presidents Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) that feel like they go on for six months, rather than three. Spring break looms for those …

Survive the Holidays

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer on Christmas Eve when everyone just wants to party and have a good time, but I hope everyone can spare a thought for those who may be alone. I've spent more than one Christmas Eve alone (and other holidays, but we'll skip that for now) and let me tell …

What Would Dickens Say?

The season of commercial excess is upon us, unfettered, in all it's foul glory. Like a juggernaut, the exhortations to 'Buy! Buy! Buy!' come fast and furious now, and no matter how much we may bemoan the crass commercialization of this season, most of us will dutifully heed the call, in some measure. Stores opened …

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have swiped this from an email from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, just so you know. I found them after watching "The Big Year" and getting more interested in birding. I still haven't done much about it, but I do love birds, so...   Just in case you're grousing (har har) around the interwebs …

Survival Mode

So here we are, the last week of November, with that-holiday-that-shall-not-be-named right around the corner. Here comes the panic, and the racing around, and the fretting over money we can't really afford to spend, and 'To-Do' lists growing exponentially even though time is speeding up. Yeah, I really look forward to the holidays. I gave …

Happy Independence Day

  IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to …

Happy Halloween

Click on the picture for a Halloween card. I almost feel guilty celebrating with so much destruction and devastation this week.  If you're lucky enough to have power and are celebrating, whether it's the secular Halloween or the Witches' New Year of Samhain with its attendant memorials to those who have passed over, the day …