Morning all:

This morning I got a little bit of a late start on my post. Mostly this is due to the fact that it is officially the coldest morning we have experienced since summer – 18 degrees., and I found it awfully difficult to throw the down comforter aside, However, here I am, and even the smell of a mug of great coffee sitting next to me is warming me up. We are also promised two to three inches of snow – another first since last season. It’s a good thing that this is the weekend since it will paralyze the city.

Our panic stricken population will now completely stop their Christmas shopping frenzy cold in it’s tracks. In its place they will, without hesitation, stand for hours in lines patiently waiting for their flu shots, and then storm through the grocery stores emptying the shelves of any and all bread and milk products. By the way, just how closely are we related to lemmings, cows, or horses?

This weekend we are starting off the Christmas season in earnest. At 1:30 this afternoon we’ll be downtown for an official ‘high tea’, complete with scones, proper marmalades, and off course, ‘clotted’ butter. We’ll then wander around looking at the decorations and take a horse-drawn wagon ride. This evening we’ll have the company Christmas dinner at the Cincinnatian Hotel where we’ll spend the night. This place is our only boutique hotel and keeps on winning one award after another. After breakfast/brunch it’s off to home where we can start preparations for our annual neighborhood holiday dinner down the street. I think Marcia said something about us doing desert and wine. Well, if that doesn’t get me into the mood I don’t know what will.

Talking about getting into the spirit of the season. Last Sunday evening I was doing my two-mile jaunt in our neighborhood’s other quadrant. They had it organized so that every street, on both sides, had candle luminaries placed every three feet along the sidewalks. This went on street after street and was absolutely spectacular. I raced home; got Marcia out of her television induced stupor and placed her in the car so we could drive around. We did this with our headlights off for about fifteen minutes. Wow!

Lastly, a couple of unrelated bits. First, since many of you are from northern European stock we tend to feel that we can instantly ‘peg’ where exactly an individual is originally from. Take this little quiz and see how well you actually do. As you have been reading, our town had another major policing incident two weeks ago. Of course, the push is now on to retrain our ‘thin blue line’ into more people friendly individuals. This ‘Speed Bump’ comic details the outcome of this type of training. Other than that, have a look at my “Week’s Best” site. It is an ad from the UK and wonderfully striking for its simplicity. Be sure to pull your mouse over the woman’s picture. Sometimes less is more. On that note –

Have a great week,

Cheers,

Dirk