'Tis the Season

Having survived Halloween, Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and except for Ferguson, Missouri, finding ourselves all in one piece, Americans and all those illegal aliens we can't count but know they're out there are gearing up for the final stretch. Christmas and New Year's loom, and so far all I have done is buy some holiday-themed postage stamps and stick a bottle of champagne in the fridge. Fearing I am not festive enough, I consider mailing Christmas cards to distant friends but it seems so old-fashioned. So once again I present my annual Christmas letter, a weird thing to do when you're a Jew but anyway:

Dear Friends:

This year was a toughie, what with a few fractured ribs wiping out February and a concussion all but obliterating the month of October. Despite all that, I can gratefully report that I am still alive and in possession of 100% original body parts. I can't remember too much about what happened in much of 2014, but I'm pretty sure it was good stuff. Mitch and I drank a lot of wine and continue to do so, which may account for some of those memory lapses. I remember a boat ride that may have been to Monhegan Island.

The good news is that while we had several plumbing emergencies last spring, all our pipes are currently in excellent shape. Our son is healthy, thank God for that. Both cats are alive and thriving, keeping me quite busy with scooping litter and putting their food on the floor and then picking it up and washing the dishes, giving them treats, taking them to the vet, etc. I am quite happy we no longer have a dog.

I opened and closed another lovely but unwanted art gallery, which was a whole lot of hooey for no reason. We took some trips that were way better than last year when we went to Barcelona and Mitch got food poisoning. Happily, this year neither one of us got food poisoning, and what's bad about that?

My dear friend Debra visited for a few days and that was a hoot. Ditto Mitch's cousins from New York who came for less than 24-hours and another Debby from Salt Lake who came for two days last summer. So much for Maine being America's Vacationland; besides those folks we haven't seen a soul from the Real World, unless you count our friends John and Carrie in Maryland. But they are truly other-worldly, and visiting them seems like a fantastic dream from long ago, even though I think it happened last April.
 
A recent snowstorm took out Mitch's garden fence, so I suppose we will have to put up a new one next planting season, unless we move into Portland which we might because living in Freeport is such a drag.

Merry Christmas to All, and a Happy New Year!