Date:                           December 30, 2007

Location:                    South of the Border, SC

1200

             The Christmas tree was still standing when we started our motorhome and pulled out of our daughter’s driveway, but the holiday had spent most of its luster and it was time to regain a semblance of reality and normalcy back in our lives and, I am sure back in our host’s lives.  There had been lots of laughs and smiles and, of course, wonderful night time hugs to fill our memories, but reality was knocking on our door and Connie and I have other obligations to fullfill and warmer climate to find.  It is never wrong or a mistake to spend time with your family. It is especially wonderful when the time is so pleasant and full of special treasures that will warm our memories and hearts as we reflect on our travels to New York for this winter season’s holiday.

            We had snow and cold, but that is what you are supposed to have in New York for December.  We had smiles and many special moments with family, and that is what one can pray for under such circumstances.  There was a tear or two in my lovely wife’s eye as we waved good bye to her mom at the airport, but that also is to be expected at this time of year and point of reality in our lives.  Most importantly there were a lot of examples of love and warmth that emanated form Heidi’s home as we all gathered to celebrate this holiday of love and giving.  It may have been the simple act of icing a cookie or just watching the illuminated eyes of someone as they opened a special present on Christmas Eve or morning.  Whatever the moment the pleasure was evident and shared by the whole family.  It was a good Christmas.

Our home is not, as of this writing, behaving as wonderfully as one might wish, but that is also life.  We are safe and resting at Pedro’s and preparing to put on our NOMADS hats as we wait for this flow of uneven biorhythms to pass.  As I am always reminded, “It isn’t brain cancer.”  These small bumps in the road will also pass and our life will progress on some level of normalcy.  One can only hope that the road will smooth out sooner than later.  It is good to be back in our home and using it as a home again.  I guess that as one gets older, one gets a bit more spoiled and set in ones ways. At least that would seem to describe Connie and me at this point in our lives.  Things will get fixed and small blips will disappear and what is left behind will be the wonderful warm memories that we carry form our excursion into the frozen tundra of the Northeast.  It really was not that bad but my writer’s exaggeration drive gets put into gear to attempt to make this blog worth reading.

            As we gather our spirits and head back in to our NOMAD-ic life in the warm south we do realize that there is no warm tropical breeze that feels nearly as good as the soft breath of a granddaughter as she offers her grandfather a kiss as she pass by on her way to do something as important as bugging her brother.  We also will forever remember that what ever slight discomfort we felt as our RV failed to enjoy the excursion into the north we know that our daughter graciously suffered the stress having her family invade an already overly stressful time of year to share in the enjoyment of this loved filled time of year.  It is the time of year for giving and Connie and I are all too very much appreciative of the gift that was offered and given to us by our family in North Collins.  It was simply the gift of being themselves and living their lives in such a way that allowed us to spend a few days sharing this special time of year with them.  You can give no more than of yourself and there is no more valuable gift than to be the recipient of that love and warmth.

            I may be writing this blog in the warmth of a South Carolina morning and in my Bermuda shorts, but I feel that maybe that is just exterior warmth.  The real pleasure of inner warmth is still in the cold snow of western New York. Wonderfully, I know that wonderful warmth and love will always be there for us and we can and do carry it within our souls as we meander to and fro in this country.  Could anyone ever ask for a better gift during this Christmas season?

Date:                           December 20, 2007

Location:                    North Collins, NY

0830

            Yesterday my wife and I traveled to the airport to meet and welcome Connie’s mom to our family gathering at this Christmas time at our daughters.  We gathered at the security gate with the throng of other holiday greeters and awaited our passenger’s arrival.  It was from this point of observation that I was able to view a section of this country’s populace and, in my simple manner, attempt discern the emotive personality of our country.  It was not in total a pretty picture.

            My lovely wife had all of the expected emotions of a person awaiting the arrival of a loved one at the airport at this holiday season.  Her eyes were filled the bright anticipation of seeing her mother.  There was a smile and hint of joy hidden ever so tenderly behind her beautiful blue eyes. She had made sure that we arrived at the airport nearly an hour early and this allowed us time to enjoy the warmth of a stale cup of concessionaire coffee.  It allowed me the pleasure of watching the expected emotions of a greeter awaiting the arrival of a loved family member.

            There was, as stated, the joy of reuniting and sharing shining through her bright blue eyes.  This was a joy for me to enjoy, just knowing the pleasure that she anticipated.  There was also a hint of apprehension and concern as we waited at the gate and periodically walked across the terminal to verify the status of USAir flight 3737.  It was actually 2 minutes ahead of schedule, but until we could see our valued visitor walking down the concourse we stilled had that twinge of concern.  We do live in a time of governmental induced fear.  And I still think that it is still pure magic when I see a large metal container full of people floating in mid air.  My wife was, over her steaming paper cup full of coffee, exhibiting the expected emotions of a holiday welcoming committee of one.  Smiles and joy with just a hint of trepidation were very prominently expressed though her eyes and on her face.

            It was as I crossed the concourse to continually check on flight 3737 that my powers of observation caused me concern.  We were at the reception area which also is the departing area at this rather small airport.  It is the area that should have been full of people with the facial expressions of joy and anticipation as they awaited the arrival of loved ones, or were just arriving at there destination and thusly filled with the love and joy of planned holiday celebrations that lie ahead. 

There should also have even people with the pleasures of expected joys that their soon to be destination arrival would give them splashed across their smiling faces.  Even if the harassment of governmental torture of superfluous security did cause them to remove their boots, or attempt to rise from their wheel chair, or just suffer under the Neanderthal attitude of third grade dropouts that now are employed by the pseudo security apes.  Even if all of this was before them, there should have been faces of anticipated joy filling the terminal at the Buffalo International Airport.  That should have been the scene, but I am sure that by now you have surmised that that is not what I observed.

            On the sullen faces of a crowed of depressed travelers and greeters I observed a very unhappy example of society that now populates this country.  It was a very sad example of the personality that roams our streets on a daily basis.  As young college travelers were returning home for the celebration of a family Christmas I saw faces of gloom and sadness meandering, luggage laden, through this collection of gloom and depression.  I saw middle aged business people well dressed and eager to make it through the crowd with the weight of the world displayed on the eyes of each and a cell phone stuffed in their ear as they dragged a small overnight bag on its wheels.  I saw small children lost and in a fog as they attempted to move their small legs in a blinding near run to keep up with the parent or pair of parents that  were seeming a day late for a meeting that was soon to be canceled.  On almost all of these faces I saw no example of joy or pleasure.  I saw depression, stress and anger.  What it was that caused this emotive display is beyond my comprehension, but it was still being carried and broadcast by nearly every one of the holiday travelers that past by my wife and I as we awaited our guest.

            I will not even begin to attempt to explain the reason for the observations which we were forced to experience.  I will just sadly say that Buffalo is not the only city in which we have made this observation. It was just the place at which we were standing on this day that we were privy to the depressed anger that seems to fill our country.  If we can not exhibit love and joy at this time of year, how will we find it in our normal everyday walk through life?  We are an angry society.  Just read the news or watch the entertainment shows that pass themselves off as news on any evening.  Maybe that is more a cause then a reflection.  We need to find a path to a more joyous enlightenment, but I am not wise enough to direct anyone to that preferred trail.  I would guess that the answer is written well within each of us if we dare search.  I can only report on what I have observe and I sadly that is what I have done.  I can only pray it was a jaundice view I report this day, but I fear it was all too accurate.

We need to live in a happier country and a happier world. I will promises to do my part with a smile and pleasant thought offered to a stranger.  I ask that you do no less.  I will also attempt to think of C N N and F O X as letters that do not need to appear on my TV screen.  And maybe, come November in the new year to come we will find a true leader and a person of honest compassion and care for our country will be heading for that address on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Maybe we will find a happier country in which my lovely wife and I can wait at an airport on the next winter solstice.  I can only wish and you can hopefully aid in the successful realization of my dream. 

Date:                           December 18, 2007

Location:                    North Collins, NY

0930

            Jingle Bells; Jingle Bells; I am freezing by jingle bells off as we enjoy the warmth of a Christmas with our family in North Collins.  By the way, North Collins is in the south towns of Buffalo, NY. Is that enough said?

            I am sure that I am being a wimpy child, complaining like a little brat.  There is barely a foot of snow and the temperature is supposed to, actually, get above freezing sometime today for the first time in nearly a week.  I am constantly reminded that we are not in a Buffalo winter, yet.  This is just the sampler that may have arrived a few weeks early this year.  But, I am still cold and whining and it feels like winter to me.  I am the geriatric that sold his house and moved into a moveable bus so that I could chase the warmer climates.  Being anywhere near, or especially north, of the Mason Dixon line this time of year was not in the original plan. I realize that family and holiday desires can modify the original plan, but there still was a plan and planning to get rock salt for the ice on the sidewalk was never part of that plan.

            I remember the chill of harsh winter winds and the bone chilling cold that reaches into the center of your being and seems to never want to release you from its grip. I remember those moments form my past and that is one of the reasons Connie and I are doing what we are doing, normally.  I also remember that the south towns around Buffalo have, for the last few years, been putting of winter until sometime in February.  That may be some of the false information that caused Connie and me to even contemplate driving our home into the frozen tundra called New York in the winter.  For some reason, Nature decided to return to something that resembles normality and winter arrived a lot closer to the calendar indication of that wondrous time of year than I might have wished.

            All right, I feel better.  I have gotten some of that chilled chip off of my shoulder and been able to whine to no one in particular.  I realize that sympathy is a word in a dictionary and not a gift from disinterested fellow sufferers.  I will go and find a dictionary if I think I need sympathy. And, yes I know where to look in the book for my sympathy. I know which words it is between.

            The good news is that Christmas is coming and the family is still speaking to each other.  In some less loving environments the fact that someone has stolen your driveway, invaded your house and dumped a bucket of extra stress on your already over laden shoulders could be a cause for frustration and friction.  Instead we are all attempting to pitch in where we can and how we can.  The hugs good night are still as warm and wonderful and the lilt of laughter still often fills the air of this family’s home.  The corners will soon be crowded a bit more and the work will, I am sure, become a bit more extreme, but the desire to share and be with each other will, I hope, out weight any feelings of stress.  I am not sure if too many tongues are bleeding, although I am sure some have been placed quietly between some teeth.  The seasonal goal of sharing love still seems to be ever most prominent in every ones mind. When it is easy to relax with family it makes the realization of that goal so much more achievable.

            As I started my diatribe this morning whining about the cold of a Buffalo winter morning I must honestly close in miraculous wonder at the over abundance of warmth and love that we are enjoying inside the confines of our families home.  A simple good morning or a moment of concern about some pains here or there might sound superfluous or silly but it is truly the underlying foundation of family caring.  Papa getting up from the dinner table and being caught in front of the kitchen sink doing dishes is not miraculous, all though some might have thought so, but it is symbolic of the simple steps of love and caring being offered and enjoyed by everyone.  Maybe it is the warmth of a smile; the deep pleasure of a good night kiss from your granddaughter; or a goodnight hug form your all to grownup grandson; or just the ability to share in a personal, close environment that caused us to point our warm weather home to the north this season.  I will continue to whine about the cold, that is what old white haired men do.  I will still yearn for the warmth of a 70 degree Florida day in the middle of January, for that is what old white haired fulltimers enjoy.  But, most importantly I will never loose the memories that I am making each and every day as Connie and I prepare to celebrate this Christmas season with our family.

            Is it my imagination, or is it starting to get a little warmer here in the south towns of Buffalo?  I know I feel a little warmer now and it seems to be coming from the inside working its way out.

Date:                           December 15, 2007

Location:                    North Collins, NY

1000

            There is a simple rule in the Shelanskey book of happiness that is so seldom obeyed but so very often exhibited in everyday life.  The simple rule is: “The road to depression is paved with elevated expectations.”  As we approach the heightened stress of celebrating Christmas I am afraid that the negative effect of this little idiom will be played out in so very many homes around our country. We are all aware that the holidays are the point of  high activity for family abuse; for suicides; and general depression.  At a time of year when we celebrate the birth of our savior; the wonder of peace and the fun of giving and receiving brightly wrapped gifts we seem to dig out a deep depression form the elevation of promised happiness.  There has to be either an explanation or a reason for this paradoxical emotional roller coaster.  In my simple mind it is simply the exercise of Shelanskey Rule #1; “The road to depression is paved with elevated expectations.”

            My mind meandering of yesterday described the pleasure of enjoying the soft, comfortable time machine my daughter has in her living room.  The family Christmas tree is the fuel for the ride through memory-ville and the pleasure is the individual feeling of warmth and love that each separate memory brings to my soul as I allow my eyes to wander around the tree and focus in on each special ornament and the wonders that they recall.  Through the filters of an old-timer’s memory and natural selection of remembrance my mind chooses to recall the love and warmth that each special hanging decoration holds.  I do not choose nor do I even contemplate to remember any whining, over stressed reaction, nor negative aspect of the day that that bauble represents. It may not be a conscience reaction, but it is still a reaction that makes memories, often, more enjoyable than the actual moment.  That road to depression may have been modified by the onset of time and the benefit memory filtration.

            My wife and I just left a large family gathering at my sisters for the celebration of the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  One might think that this was a formula for stress and frustration as family members of multiple nationalities, age ranges from pre-teen to nearly a century, and family members that have not seen each other for decades, or even were meeting for the very first time.  There would seem to be an over abundance of a supply of elements that could have led to many stressful moments and yet it led to endless moments of laughter and joy.  I must admit that part of the reason for the enormous success is simply that my sister is an angel and emanates peace and love by just being in the room. I am not sure that is always the emotion and stress level in her soul, but it is the aura that she provides for the rest of us revelers.  She is a sister that I have learned to love so very much more as our lives have progressed than I ever realized I loved as a child.  I was a stupid younger brother.

            I would like to think that another reason for the warmth and success of Caroline’s mega holiday celebration was that she never allowed us to have elevated expectations.  Not out of a devious pre plan, I think. But, she just did not completely let us know what we were going to be doing.  We all knew we were supposed to be at her house and we all knew that meant that we were going to eat well and laugh a lot, because that is what happens at the Urbanos.  The festivities grew from her direction after we arrived. Since we had so little time to contemplate the fact that we were to play secret Santa, celebrate Christmas a month early, enjoy the celebrated tradition of an Urbano Christmas Eve feast, and experience the diversity of age, nationality, and life styles, we did not have time to have elevated or stressed expectations.  We just had time to enjoy each other. And, in this family that means enjoy the warmth and treasure of much love and laughter.  I am not sure if the pleasure of love and warmth is a result of my sister’s magic or just her wondrous knowledge of life and the Shelanskey first rule of happiness.  At the Urbano household this November there was no path to depression, there was just the celebration of the moment and all of the love that it contained.

            During this holiday season my wish is that we all spend a lot less time planning and preparing for the expected results of happiness and warmth and a lot more time simply enjoying the moment and the love and pleasure that each second holds.  If it feels stressful, don’t do it. It probably is full of stress and will, undoubtedly, lead to a much lower realization of pleasure than the expectation might dream.  If the room is not clean, so be it.  Just close your eyes as you hug your daughter, granddaughter, mother or friend and it is surprising how clean a feeling of love you will remember from the moment.  The paper, toys or whatever will eventually be cleared.  Another old adage that I believe fully is that; “If you give up one hug now and get two later you are still missing one.”  Trust me, you will not remember the broken box in the corner, you will forever feel the warmth of the tight hug that you receive or give for no special reason.  The hug or moment of love did not come form expectation or planning it came from the heart.  Enough said.

            My gift for you this year is lowered expectations and all that that will provide for you.  I promise you will receive higher pleasures of love and warmth if you just allow it to arrive on its own sleigh.  If you choose to not follow the road to depression with elevated expectations you might want to take the fork in the road and find happiness with a somewhat lower level of expectation and a much higher treasure chest of memories, warmth and love.  Merry Christmas and I wish you nothing except what is already there and available if you simply hug one or two extra people today and tomorrow and each day of this season.  Enjoy the memory in the time of it happening, why wait for that time machine.

Date:                           December 14, 2007               

Location:                    North Collins, NY

0900

            When I was a lot younger I liked to read science fiction stories and one of my favorite themes was the possibility of a time machine. There are few of us that have not wished that we could turn that clock either forward to glimpse at the future or turn it in reverse to correct a small, or not so small, past indiscretion.  In the stories that I read the availability of a machine to transport you either into the future or past seemed to be an expected reality and the only question was how an interloper might change the ribbon of life depending on how he may have changed reality by visiting a time where he was not originally a participant.  For every dreamt pleasure of being able to transport yourself in time there always seemed to be a negative reality to balance the ying and yang of the time continuum.

            As I now rest in my daughter’s living room enjoying the glow of our family Christmas tree I am realizing the time machine I read about is a true reality, but not quite as I pictured as a youth.  Our tree is laden with ornaments that have been acquired throughout the past Christmases.  There is a Snoopy with a Christmas tree that Grandma and Grandma gave Justin when he was just beginning to enjoy the bright lights of a his first Christmas tree.  There is a big paper Christmas ball colored and decorated by a kindergarten attending Beth, who placed here school picture in the middle of this prized family treasure.  There are ornaments for each and every year of the life of the children in this house and they are pure treasures in the memories of the older child like parents and grandparents that view them though the eyes of remembrance.  I am now enjoying the true time machine life.

            The truth is that we can not fix the past or change the future, but through my time machine I can choose how I remember the past and, hopefully, find a way to better plan the future.  The stress of an over stimulated child on Christmas is quickly forgotten when that day of a forgotten thank-you, or an unappreciative reception of a pair of undershorts is reflected on through the colored glasses of memories.  That ornament of a few years ago seems to bring back the smiles and warmth of holidays past and not the few moments of stress that may or may not have even existed.  I am not sure that is selective memory or just a reality of valued memories taking precedence over not needed moments on a day of all people being a bit over stimulated.

            There may be a lesson in my time machine experience.  In all of my youth stories, I am sure, there were morals and lessons to be learned. In my adult scenario I think the lesson is that the true importance of time is the warmth of the memories that remain as time passes.  If there were a bump or two in the road of existence the ability of reflection seems to smooth them out and maybe that is how we should have viewed them in the first place.  If we know that we are going to be able to forget that moment of stress in the years to come why must be place so much emphasis on it as it happens?  Smile and hug the perpetrator and I promises that is the memory that will live on in your future Christmas tree time machine.

            As I enjoy my ride in my time machine, a comfortable chair facing a very large room sized green behemoth covered in memories; I am enjoying my ride through time past and preparation for my sojourn into the future.  Each bauble on the warm and brilliant tree transports me to a moment in household history that warms my soul and reminds me the true value of family.  As I remember these past pleasures my heart is in preparation of the new wonders and memories that will be stored from this holiday season.  I hope that my small time in my time machine has taught me that patience is truly a virtue and that hindsight is a wonderful filter.  When I reflect on the snowstorm that drove through to get here this year I am sure that the warmth of a night time hug will erase any frustration I might have experienced. 

            As my Christmas gift to you, I offer my time machine to anyone that wishes to enjoy the ride through this holiday. It has a great ability to weigh the true value of each moment and the ability to filter stress almost completely.  All you need to do is find a comfortable chair in front of your Christmas tree; pick out a few special ornaments and try to remember the love that surrounds them; and maybe you can be lucky enough to have your family nearby to help enjoy your ride through time.  If you are alone or with family, let the warmth of past memories filter each moment of this holiday season and fully enjoy the present with as much harmony and pleasure as I am sure you will on reflection.  My time machine is in your heart and awaiting your pleasure.  Please do not fail accept its offer of love and warmth.

Date:                           December 10, 2007

Location:                    North Collins, NY

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            The snow was thick and the air was cool, but it was a beautiful day to go and find a Christmas tree.  It was one of those winter days when a new southern inhabitant could actually remember a few good memories from winters gone by.  The family was all together and the living room was ready to receive its new adornment.  Connie and I have missed a few years of family Christmas tree gathering and this year we had driven a long way, suffered through a winter storm and watched a tow truck pulling our home down I-86 to be here and we were happy to bundle up and head into the woods to find the perfect tree.

            When we arrived at the Christmas tree farm the sun was shinning, the air was crisp but quite pleasant and the snow was about a foot deep and glistening a white purity of winter wonderland beauty.  Mom, dad, son, daughter, grandma and grandpa all ventured forth into the snow and woods to find the perfectly shaped tree to cut down and place in our living room.  I would be a bit remiss if I failed to admit that a few white orbs of snow seemed to fly from little hands and from some older hands.  But, it was a bright beautiful winter day and the snow seemed to pack all by itself .  Most of us ended up with snow in places that we did not expect to have snow and a lot of smiles as we enjoyed the perfection of our aim.  The snow was a bit deep, but we all had on our boots, or at least shoes that we expected to get wet. Some of us got our socks a bit more wet than we planned, but it was a rather short time in the snow covered tundra and you are supposed to get a little cold and a little wet when you go to cut down your Christmas tree.

            After searching and laughing and trudging through the snow we all agreed on a beautiful full tree that we were assured was just perfect and may be just a little bit smaller than the one last year.  It seems that last year the tree almost did not fit in the house and we do not need that hassle this year.  Bob took the first few saw cuts on the tree and then we all took our turns at crawling on the snow covered ground to have our opportunity at felling our family Christmas tree.  Mom, daughter and son all took their turns at cutting through the rather large tree trunk. Even grandpa and grandma took up their position, knee deep in snow, and crawled under the tree to take their turns.  Grandma was the last to crawl in the wet snow and she got the honor of actually felling the tree.  She just proved that even grandmas can do their share.  It was now dad, son and grandpa’s chore to find a way to carry this monster to the truck and get it home.

            We were all told by Heidi that this tree was smaller than last year’s, but it sure felt big and heavy as we dragged and carried it to the truck.  The closer we got to the truck the larger the tree seemed.  We started to wonder if it was even going to fit in the back of the truck bed.  We managed to lift the tree up and after a lot of tugging and pushing we kind of had the tree in the truck and we now had to figure out how we were going to get it in the house.  It is a big tree and it is a lot of tree, but it is our tree and it is a beautiful pungent evergreen smelling Christmas symbol that is going to look so great in our living room.

            Sunday was spent trimming the tree. First trimming off some of the branches so that the tree would fit in the house and then decoratively trimming the tree with all of the special ornaments that have been collected over the past family years.  It does seem that the tree seemed to expand and grow as it rested in the garage over night, because it now is said to be even bigger than the one last year by Heidi.  But, with some special bindings and tarps and with a whole family of volunteers pushing, pulling and tugging it made it into the living room and it is now elaborately decorated with the family’s special decorations.  Grandma and grandpa had 2 new ornaments to give to the little munchkins to continue their tradition and they now are on the tree.  The tree is not only the main element of the living room, but quite nearly the whole living room. 

            The tree may be large, but it is shouldering a lot of love and memories as each ornament glistens and sparkles in the green, red and twinkling white lights of Christmas.  It has already produced a myriad of smiles and laughter as we all worked at getting this large green center of attraction even in the house.  It has also provided a trip through memory land as each ornament was taken from its special box and placed on a this year’s new Christmas tree.  Some ornaments were presents from grandparents or mom and dad.  Some of the ornaments were hand made by young tykes as they enjoyed the magic of their first holidays.  All of the ornaments are treasure chests of memories and examples of love on so many levels.  It takes a large tree to hold all of that love and we are proudly now looking at large holder of love and memories that dominates our living room and, hopefully, will direct our continued enjoyment of this holiday.  This year’s tree may be a little bigger than the tree last year, but it has a lot of love to hold and to share this year.  It needs to be just the beautiful example of love and charm that it is.  It majestically holds many memories of Christmas past and it is already providing new memories of laughter, warmth and love for this Christmas present. 

Date:                           December 07, 2007

Location:                    North Collins, NY    

1345

            Today my lovely wife and I are safely and warmly comforted in realizing that we are home with our family and preparing to enjoy the holidays.  This is all a very good thing and a time, that I am sure, we will look back on as a special time in our lives.  It is not a full and accurate picture of just where and how we are at this juncture in our lives.  It is not that anything really traumatic has detoured our lives.  We did not have family shopping at a mall in Nebraska; we do not have close family members placing their valuable lives on the line for an illegal war waged on false pretences from a president that should have been impeached and tried in world courts for the war crimes he has committed; it is just that we are at our daughters and our home is in the repair shop for an unexpected maintenance visit.  It may not be a large cloud of despair that hangs over our head, but I would be less that honest if I did not admit that a cloud, such as it is, does blanket our lives right now.

            For the last month or better I have been too lazy and too busy to spend much time updating my blog.  Keeping my blog was supposed to be a way that Connie and I could share our experiences and to store them for future personal enjoyment.  This all sounded like a great idea and one in which I have invested a large amount of time and effort.  Sometimes it has been time well spent and sometimes it has been a chore.  Of late it has been relegated to a far back burner due to the simple fact we have had too many experiences to share.  We have traveled and enjoyed the Pacific Northwest.  We enjoyed it with all of its fog and rain, but also with its beauty and majesty.  We have found time and the great pleasure of visiting friends that we have known.  We have also spent time with other friends acting as Volunteer Rangers at White Sands National Monument and playing a lot of, less than expert, bridge, at least on my part.

            After visiting friends from all over the country and in many different parts of the country it was time for family and holidays and we have enjoyed that part of our lives also.  Connie and I spent half of a month in Houston with my family.  It was a chance for us to have Thanksgiving and Christmas with my sister and my nephew and nieces.  Parts of the family I had not seen in far too many years and for entirely far too long a time.  Connie and I came from all over the country to be with the family and they came from all over the world to be with us.  It was not just wonderful, it was special and it was family.  I am sure that I ate too much, but I laughed in those two weeks more than most people find reason to smile in a year.  Every night for nearly two weeks I got to hug my sister good night and tell her I love her.  This is something I would wish for everyone to be able to experience.  It is not only great it is value added to your soul.

            It was as we were leaving the southwest that our clouds of despair started to appear.  We had one more family stop to make and that was the major positive in the week that is unwinding.  Aunt Jan and Susan are world class hosts and just all around great people to be with and our time in Cincinnati is always too short.  This visit was to be no exemption, except that we needed to head home to our RV dealer for some scheduled maintenance and some soon to be necessary unscheduled repairs. 

It was on our trip from OH to NY that the proverbial “KA-KA” hit the fan.  Not to bore you with details or depress you with our less than wonderful life right now I will sum up our trip home with a few short descriptive phrases.  We drove through a snow and ice storm; our Hydro-hot heating system is on the fritz; and we needed to be towed into Jamestown after our wonderful RV died in the middle of Interstate 86 and I was lucky enough to get it off the road before it became a very expensive and heavy paperweight.

            We are safe; we are with family; we are praying daily that we can afford to get our home fixed; and we are not totally disenchanted with our lives as fulltimers.  After rereading that sentence it might explain, or at least exemplify, the lunacy that is the driving force behind living this life.  In the scheme of things, life is ok for us.  It may not be perfect, but it is most definitely ok.

I hope that I have managed to bring this blog kind of up to date.  We have been busy and have managed to travel a lot in the last month or so.  We have visited friends that are always very spiritually close to us if not always physically close.  And we have been able to share our life and time with family members that we see with some frequency and some which we have not seen for decades.  All of this we have done as we meander throughout this entire country from the sun filled shores of the Monterey Bay in California, to the moisture infused beauty of the Olympic Peninsula, and from the world’s largest example of white gypsum sand dunes in the New Mexican desert.  We have done all of this because we are full time RVers.  As my lovely wife keeps reminding me as I wallow in pits of self pity, “This to will pass.” 

 I will attempt to keep my blog abreast of the good news and happy times as this holiday season unfolds.  I will try not to cry for too much sympathy and pity.  I am sure I will give myself plenty of that.  In the scheme of things, life is still very good; I just miss my home and pray that Aurora is getting good care.