You’ll be doin’ all right
with your Christmas of white…
Oh, for Pete’s sake, somebody send some
precipitation to California, please! If I’m very lucky, that statement alone
will ensure a deluge by the time I send these greetings.
Let’s get a couple of things
out of the way first, having to do with our photo. You’ll notice a new look to
the background this year. In September, we moved the horses to a new stable,
two ranches down from our previous location. It was an opportunity for my
trainer to grow her business, something no one can afford to pass up these days.
Although we miss the Silver Rose Ranch, we love our new digs at Hillcrest
Equestrian Center.
You’ll also notice we are
missing a family member. Katy the cat succumbed to kidney failure this year.
She was 18, and I swear, some nights I still feel the weight of her at the end
of the bed.
As for the rest of us, Marcus
completed his undergraduate work at Cal State Long Beach. He now has a Bachelor
of Music, with majors in Vocal Jazz Studies and Composition. His studies took
an unexpected turn, causing him to spend one more semester at school. That, in
turn, gave the Vocal Jazz Director an opening for him to sing in Pacific
Standard Time one more year. So he’s spending a year with one foot in and one
foot out of school, still getting music-related jobs wherever he can.
I asked Dale what he wanted
to talk about in the letter and he said, “I’ve done too much, one letter won’t
cover it.” I will tell you that retirement led to a lot of travel for him this
year. He went to Angels’ spring training in Arizona, the Frozen Four in Boston,
golfing in Maine, a family reunion in Louisiana, and even a spur-of-the-moment
trip to Denver to visit a friend. When he was home, he coached two youth
basketball teams, golfed, and played softball. He’s one busy retiree.
I’m still boring. Write a
book, ride a horse, go to the library and make decisions, repeat as necessary. This
was my 10-year anniversary of writing for the newspaper, so I released 3 books
of columns on various subject matters. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my year, but the
highlights all included friends, from the time we got to spend with Michael and
Chrissie in Oregon, to having dinner with my high school buddy Mark and his
wife Marjie, to our infrequent get-togethers with others. If I could request
more time on this planet, I’d want to spend it hanging out with the people I
love.
As for family trips, we did
our usual mountain getaway. One of our dear, young (Marcus’ age) friends
couldn’t make the trip because she was stuck in the hospital due to a
recurrence of cancer. This meant our trip was modified to accommodate a visit
to her in Sacramento. We love her, and we hate cancer, and we can’t wait for the
day when it can all be cured without going through such painful processes.
Although we’ve had a
lot of fun times this year, it sometimes feels like an enormous chore to keep
the bad news of the world at bay. I’m not looking forward to next year’s election
and all its negativity. All I can do is remember to breathe deeply, love greatly,
and do my best to be kind.
So we wish you a Most Merry Christmas, and a Highly Happy New Year!
The Carlines
3 comments:
Such a heartwarming letter, I often think of our visit together with great fondness. Which reminds me, gotta get a pic of those cowboy bridal boots together for ye! Love the photo and the outtakes :-) Sending much love to you all always and especially for Christmas! Jolly Holly Honey --Chrissie
Always look forward to your letter and photo. I am glad you had time with Mark and his wife. You are so right - wish we had more time to spend with those we love. Wishing you the best Christmas ever - new floor or not. - Carol, Tom and Tommy
Your "boring" life sounds like heaven to me! And up here in Northern California, we are getting quite a bit of long-overdue precipitation. Hopefully it will drift your way! Happy holidays.
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