Christmas is all about people, and a few animals. By the middle of the month, Joe had cranked out a Christmas Newsletter. It was a little short on events from Cheryl's calendar, but barely fit in the room allotted as usual. By December 18th Cheryl had adapted to the new kitten reality, Tagger plays with everything. She bought a permanent tree at Habitat for Humanity at Joe's request and set it up in the TV room, which is off limits to animals. We were busy sending out
Christmas newsletters to a very long list
when there was a commotion in our tiny parking area. No it wasn't Santa arriving early, but almost. A big UPS truck and an even bigger FedEx truck arrived at our house at the same time. It was nip and tuck there for awhile, but they got in an out. In the morning we had to restake all the poles where we hang flagging for the snow plow.
The next day while we could have been the annual Solstice Party, our cat Tagger disappeared. He was not inside tearing around for his usual pre-sleep romp. We searched outside and could not find him anywhere. We resigned ourselves to the worst. Probably an owl got him and went to bed in a somber mood. But before we got any sleep, there was the click-click of the cat door. We both jumped up and there was Tagger, strolling in late, wondering what all the commotion was about. I think we realized then that our best Christmas present had arrived in early October.
We did manage to attend Mary Seleky's annual Eggnog Party, along with 140 so other people on the 20th. The cement truck seen above was on our way.
Our daughter April, arrived the next day and a fast round of visits to old friends, making cookies, exchanging gifts and eating together ensued before she headed off to Republic to visit her mother and then back to Ellensburg to host Christmas Dinner for the "orphans", grad students who couldn't make it home for the holidays.
Christmas must have been too much for the US Mail. The truck out of Spokane broke down on Christmas Eve and mail delivery was late, but in time for Christmas. With some last minute gift wrapping, we were ready for a "long winter's nap". Christmas itself was easy. We ate fruitcake from my brother John for breakfast and started opening presents. The big hit was an official "Ovid Duke Brock" Calendar. We made it back to the Selecky house for Christmas dinner and the usual white elephant gift exchange.
Joe wrapped up the year with a few more oral histories from local folks and the traditional Rose Bowl game with his old friend Dave Wingate. In between, he worked on the new website for the Panorama Gem and Mineral Club,
Panoramagem.com.