Books

At this rate I'll never finish another book. By the time I go to bed,I'm usually pretty tired (or else, why go to bed). But that's also the quiet time of day when I pick up a book and start to read. Plus, reading is a good "clear-your-mind-to-get-ready-for-sleep" activity. That takes about three minutes. Five on a long night. That might get me through one or two pages in the book I'm reading. Quckisilver. Which is a long historical novel. I don't think I'm going to make it to the end unless I pick up the nightly pace or go to the beach. One or the other. Or both. Beach times are good times to knock down a lot of pages. I could probably get through the remaining 400 or so pages in one solid week at the beach.

Tonight we're curling up on the couch and looking for a beach place to rent for a week this summer. It's a nice wintry thing to do. To imagine the warm sand and waves and ocean breezes blowing in off the Atlantic. The noise of the crowd. People having fun. Or not. The noise of book pages turning one after the other. To the end.

Routine Day

It's back to the "routine" today, with work and all. My Mom and I drove back yesterday from Pennsylvania and we also had Kate's Brother Josh and his wife Sandra in for the night. They fly back to California today. From Dulles Airport. But it looks like it will be an okay weather day. 40s and sunny.

Over the next three days at work I interview four people looking for a job as "Development and Communications Officer." They all bring unique qualifications to the table and each is unlike the other. So this should be interesting. I think it will come down to an intuitive decision on my part. Most things do. Decisions I mean. Otherwise it gets too complicated trying to do things rationally and thoughtfully. Too much energy going into the mix. Decisions should be easy. Like life.

People make too much of life. Like it's supposed to be hard or something. Living things wouldn't exist to begin with if life was hard. I mean if life happened out of crazy random happenstance, how hard could it be.

Yeah. Intuition's the way to go. Easy.

Up North

Just a quick note from up north. Franklin, PA way. I'm here in a coffee shop on the main drag of downtown Franklin. Good chai. And it's warm here! The sun is breaking through and its well into the 50s! Much warmer than in Alexandria right now. Although I imagine that will change. Gift opening today for some of the "Gorman" side of the clan. And roast beef dinner. Just like Christmas Day only not.

December 25

I'm not sure why but today seems quite like most other days. Which is maybe the way it should be. I mean babies are born most every other day of the year, too. In not-so-good conditions. Under not the best of times. A bit of divinity in each child. Within each moment of creation.

It is such a normal, not-out-of-the-ordinary day that when I opened my daily reading of the Rule of Benedict, which is presented by date throughout the year, I caught myself glancing down to the date icon at the bottom of my computer screen to see what date I should be reading in the Rule. "Ah, yes! It's the 25th you dummy."

I told the story of Alfie the Christmas Tree at yesterday afternoon's Christmas Eve service for the children. They were quiet throughout. The children. So I think they were listening. That story is about the ordinary, too. All life is a special kind of thing, Alfie reminds us.

Today we have Irish stew and corned beef and cabbage for Christmas dinner. Going to Ireland this year. Fruit grunt for dessert.

Tomorrow is December 26.

Sparkling Lights

We saw the national Christmas Tree and all of the little state Christmas trees last night. On the Ellipse near the White House. There were trains there, too. Lots of them. Pretty big model trains as model trains go. Round and round villages and round the national tree. There were quite a few people there, too. The weather was nice. Chilly but calm. The four of us - Kate, her two brothers, Robert and John, and myself - were extra warm because we had walked a ways from the Metro (Yellow Line) to the trees. Walked first toward the Capital then back down the National Mall toward the Ellipse. Taking a slight jog onto Pennsylvania Avenue to cut off some distance from our trek. I would guess we walked a couple of miles total.

But it was a good evening for a walk. After dinner is a good walking time. A good get-out-and-stretch-after- sitting-and-eating time.

Then we walked to the Metro again. The Blue Line this time. Headed south to the Braddock Road station. Walked home again.

Lighten up

It's December 23, which means the days are getting longer. Imperceptibly maybe. But I swear it was lighter walking to the Metro this morning. Could have been in part because it was nearly cloudless, as well.

Other things are lighter too. Car traffic. Metro crowds (even the ones heading toward DC). Spirits of people. In general.

No so lightening is my weight. The proliferation of food nearly everywhere these days means nearly constant munch time. My weight will have to wait until the new year to unheavy itself. Serious lightening time then. Apples and oranges and pears. Oh my!

Brrrrrrrr!

I now know it can get cold in the Washington DC area. It's windy and clear and crisp out now. The coldest day of the season so far by far! Kooper and I didn't go for our typically long walk this morning. I think he would have but the cold wind cut through my multilayers and seemed to find each seam and crevice. So Kooper was kind enough to agree to wait for Kate's walk in an hour or so to get his "exercise" in. Kooper has a friend to walk with these next few days. Seneca. John and Maggie's dog is here. John and Maggie are here, too. And Robert. John and Robert are Kate's brothers and Maggie John's wife. Down from the grand state of Rhode Island - little in size only. Great spirit, I'm sure. In that mix of New York City and New England "get lost, let me help, you bum, isn't that cute. bah humbug, merry Christmas" kind of tradition. Split personality.

So. Time for some soup. Not literally. Not now at 5-something o'clock in the morning. But it's the time of year for soup. Warms the heart and body and soul. We had some last night. Potato. Wards off the brrrrr and replaces it with mmmmm.

Scrooge and Power

I've heard a lot of talk of power lately. Never being one to obey authority blindly, I always have to wonder what people really are talking about when the talk about the power of this or that, or so-and-so's authority, or following this rule or that law. Rules and laws are fine as far as they go but I think sometimes the people in "power" use them to their own ends. However seemingly benign. However blatant. To the detriment of life and love.

I read recently - just this morning in a commentary on the Rule of Benedict - that "Law is simply a candle on the path of life to lead us to the good we seek." That's Joan Chittister, by the way. That's a nice summary of the role of law. I've always liked the similar definition of "rule" that flows from its Latin roots: railing or guideline. Nothing hard and fast. Something that guides but doesn't suppress. Something bendable to the times and conditions and people that the rules are meant to serve.

Authority and power? Those derive from the people. No one can take on the mantle of authority themselves. Authority, I believe, is something conferred upon a person by others. Only then does that person become a guide, a mentor, a leader. I think George Bush tried to be an authority onto himself. But in the end not many people were willing to grant him that privilege and honor.

Abused authority and law and power are the reasons I saw over one hundred people come through the doors where I work yesterday looking for a meal to prepare at Christmastime. Looking for a few nice gifts for their children. And I'll see over a hundred more today. And I'll see that many people again on Monday before we close shop. Before 8 PM.

People - most of us really - without authority but with plenty of law and rule to fall back on have seen to it that we have more and need less. Have seen to it that others have less and need more. Blatantly maybe. Benignly more likely. But shamefully, mindlessly and heartlessly nonetheless.

Ebenezer Scrooge wasn't really a bad person after all. He followed society's rules. Made some rules himself. Likely thought he was a power all by himself. Was "comfortable" with his status in life. Until the ghosts of his past discomforted him. And in the end he broke all of the rules to become human again.

May we be so blessed with ghosts to disturb us this Christmas!

Grow old with me (by request)

Click here for video of arrangement without strings
Click here for a newer arrangement with George Martin's strings arrangement done at the request of Yoko Ono

Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love

Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done
God bless our love
God bless our love

Spending our lives together
Man and wife together
World without end
World without end

Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love

Ho Ho Ho

This is going to be a long weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday, all day, each day I'll be helping out at the office where I work in what we call the Holiday Room. A room that is right now stacked full of toys and books and puzzles and things for children. Parents (who have signed up already) will come in and "shop" for free for gifts for their children. I imagine it will be more than "parents" in the strictest sense of the word, but you get my drift. The gifts are segregated somewhat by type and gender (where it applies) and age. It should be fun I guess. Long, though. It actually continues into Monday.

I'm hoping that we don't have a "WalMart-lets-bust-down-the-doors-and-crush-the-employee" moment. I think it will be somewhat calm. First, because the event is well organized. The number of families who signed up was prescribed ahead of time so that there would be enough good gifts for everyone (the gifts are contributed). Second, it's been my experience at the agency that people with little tend to be less greedy and pushy and more polite and grateful than the rest of us on the whole. That's a tendency mind you. Not a hard and fast rule. There are exceptions, as in any trend.

Speaking of trends. It rained some yesterday. It's raining right now. It's been raining on and off for well over a week now. I think there was one day of sun this past week but I can't remember when. I'm ready for some sunshine. Even if it's cold sunshine. Rain and in the 40s is more depressing than sun and in the 20s in my book. If I had a book, that is.

Hard to Believe

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away. Kate and I went down to King Street in Old Town Alexandria last night. The best purchase was pizza from a nice pizza place/Italian restaurant down there. We got a few gifts for people, too, but most are gotten by this point. In fact, many for the Pennsylvania crowd are up in Pennsylvania already, having been shipped by my tiny elves at Amazon.com to my Mom's house directly for opening up on the weekend after the big day (if the weather cooperates and I can make it up!). All of the Pennsylvania gifts that is, except for some car tires that Kate and I are getting my daughter. They don't wrap or ship to well.

Some other things that fall into the "hard to believe" category . . .

the depth of this recession and the depths to which it might still go
my youngest child is almost 21
it still hasn't snowed here in the DC area yet
we are going to have our first African-American president
I have a job that's not in the science or conservation field
I'm ahead in the Pennsylvania DEP Meadville office football pool
Lady is gone
we have a Christmas tree that is narrow and doesn't touch the ceiling
George Bush is finally leaving (I thought he'd never leave!)

Rain

Wet. Soggy. Damp. Drizzly. Moist. It's been like this for two days now. Hopefully it will stop today sometime. But, then again, I prefer this to - Cold. Freezing. Frigid. Arctic. Snow.

Plus, you don't need to slide through it or shovel it!

A Quick Addendum

A quick addendum to the blog below: I was wondering where a particular gift was in the "shipping-from-Amazon.com" sense, so I checked the status online. The online version of reality said it had arrived yesterday. Well, I hadn't seen it. Just the pants (see below). Then I looked. It said that UPS had delivered the package to the backdoor! I never looked in the real world out the back door yesterday. Had I checked the online world I would have known to look out my back door in the real world to check for the package.

Sure enough - there it was. Sitting there just beyond the back door. In the real world. Just like the computer told me it was.

New Pants

When I got home last night there was a package from L.L. Bean wedged in between the storm door and main front door. It was addressed to me! Pants. There was no indication who the pants were from and Kate was out for the evening. So, I'm guessing they are from my Mom. Thanks Mom. I guess. She doesn't read this blog. Doesn't have a computer and doesn't really want one. Some people live life in the real three-dimensional world. The touch and see and smell and feel world.

An awful lot of our information is two-dimensional these days. Flat. Odorless. Tasteless. No warmth or cold. That information has color and motion. It still carries a message. Just incomplete. But humans are good at taking incomplete information and filling in the blanks to make a complete picture. The thing is . . . we each fill the blanks in with information from our own, individual pasts and own individual present realities. So, the "complete" picture ends up being something different for each of us. Each has his or her own version of reality. Our own, individual, self-fulfilling version of the "truth." We each hold to that truth and act on that truth and tend to reject other people's truths. That's why we fight and war and bicker and quarrel and argue and all. We each hold our own truths to be "self evident," as Thomas Jefferson once famously wrote.

Maybe Jesus was right. The story goes that when Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" he answered, "I am." Maybe in today's version of the story Jesus would answer, "Well, duh, we all are, Pilate. You. Me. Everyone." We all have a hold of what is true. Maybe it's not until we see that there is no one "Truth" with a capital "T" but that we each have a little bit of the truth with a small "t" that we start to listen to and learn from each other. . . start to complete our incomplete information with little bits of the truth of others.

So. I don't really know if it's true whether the pants came from my Mom or not. I won't really know that until I talk with her and get some more information. . . the little bit of truth that she has to offer on the subject. Then I'll know. Then, when people say to me, "Nice pants!" I can say "Yes. Isn't that the truth!"

By the Foot

We finally picked up our Christmas tree yesterday. Saturday got too congested with other things, leaving too little free time. So it was off to the Kiwanis lot yesterday. The people there were extremely nice. Trimmed the bottom of the tree trunk so it was a fresh cut. Cut off the lower limbs so we had a nice clear trunk to put in the stand. Were very chatty and pleasant. At $10 per foot of tree they can afford to be. They are volunteers, though. Each of the foot-dollars goes to a local charity (the one I work at being one of them). So they thanked us. I thanked them. They tied the tree to the roof of our loyal car, the Subaru. And we all drove home together. Kooper came, too. He didn't seem to impressed with the tree-hunting expedition.

It's a $70 tall tree. The cats seem to like it. And the ornaments. Kate ended up putting most of them up because I watched the football game on TV. Steelers v. Ravens. Steelers won in a late game drive down the field to score the only touchdown of the entire game.

Decided shift

The wind is decidedly southerly this morning. A shift from last night when Kate and I were out walking and Metro-ing about. We walked the several blocks to and from the Metro. Then it was still and cold. Now there is a warmth to the cold air.

We went to to Kennedy Center last night to see a modern dance group perform. "Modern" is the operative word. It was very. The music - which I thought was the best part - was very modern, as well. The last of the three pieces, especially. Very avante garde.

We had good seats. A few rows back, although Kate would have rather had the far view from up in the balcony. I wouldn't. I prefer closer up. We were in the Eisenhower Theatre. One - and the smallest - of the three major theaters in the Kennedy Center. It's definitely the most intimate and, for my measure, nicest. It was recently redone. Like the change in the weather this morning, you could smell the newness in the theatre as soon as you walked in. Industrial construction by-products probably. I hope that's not what blew overnight into Alexandria on that southern wind!

Moon from the East and Snow from the North

The moon coming up over the Potomac last night during my ride from work on the Metro just hung there like a yellow, glowing firefly. A full moon. Top half shrouded in clouds.

Then it was out to dinner. An Italian restaurant a few blocks away that friends got us a gift certificate for. It was good food-salmon for me and sea bass for Kate. The sea bass was filleted for Kate. They came with the cooked fish on a dish. Skin and all. "Would you like us to fillet this for you?" Adds the the ambiance, you see. And the cost. I wonder if anyone ever says, "No thanks. I'll dig the fish meat out of the skin and pick out the bones, myself. Just lower the price some, would you?" I doubt it. You would think they would notice a trend here: "Hey! No one ever says they don't want it filleted, so let's just stop asking."

Even though the moon was out last night we got snow here. Even though it was a clear sky. The snowflakes fell in the form of two snowflake ornaments from our friends in Pennsylvania -Bruce and Marty. They'll hang from our tree this year. We're getting it today. The tree. From a parking lot. They don't grow there. They likely grow somewhere else and get to the lot somehow. Walk maybe. But once they're there at the lot the Kiwanis folks get this good idea each year of taking advantage of that crazy, random happenstance and they sell the trees! For a profit. For a good cause.

Kate (left) with Bruce & Marty












So we'll have a Christmas tree this year. From God know where. Somewhere far away. And we'll put snowflakes on it from dear friends. Also somewhere far away.

Bela Fleck

We went to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones last night at the Birchmere. It's a small, intimate performance venue (night club sort of place) a couple of miles from where we live. Sits maybe six or seven hundred people. It was packed last night. You site at tables ranging in size from a two-seater to six. You order food. I got a burger. Kate, chicken wings. THen you eat and talk and wait for the performers.

Some pretty big names have been there over the years. Stephen Stills. Johnny Cash. Carly Simon. Last night it was the Flecktones. They were very good. A banjo picker (Bela). Bass player. Wind player. Percussionist. They played a mix of modern jazz and jazz-like Christmas songs. The latter were off their new album that is nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards. I can see why. They are each talented musicians in their own right. And together even better.

Tonight we walk downtown (downtown Alexandria). To see what King Street at Christmastime is all about. Alexandria was placed in the top 10 Christmas Places in the US by some list-placing group recently. Should be nice.

Dr. Horrible

Be sure to vote (once a day) for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog for the People's Choice Award: Go Here! and click on "Favorite Online Sensation" in the left hand column.

Spring

This is one of the nice things about living down here in the not-so-deep south. Just a bit ago in the dark of morning when Kooper and I stepped outside to stroll around the block we were shocked by the warmth. It had actually warmed up over night from the low 50s into the low 60s! I know that Kooper was surprised. He looked up at me from the sidewalk in front of the house with that "Is it Spring now?" look that dogs tend to get during the Winter. "No," I said, "not yet, but we can enjoy it anyways."

So we took an especially slow walk around the block. Kooper sniffed and snuffled even more than usual. I think because the warmth adds the the movement of odors from things that only dogs and babies can smell. And i just walked slow. Just because it's something that seems to be the right thing to do in the early morning. In the Spring. Even a not-for-real Spring like today.

On Target

It's been so cold here the past couple of days. After walking from the Metro to the house last evening it took about an hour for my feet to re-warm. They were cold to begin with since our area at work is poorly heated. Then, they got chilled some more waiting for the bus. It wasn't as bad walking to the house, since I was moving, but by then the freeze had set in and there was no turning back.

I guess the cold followed us back from our trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend. Along the way at each stop the wind was whipping and what little snow there was was blowing. That was especially true at the Somerset rest stop on I-70 - the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That rest stop sits atop a hill that catches the wind no matter which direction its blowing. It's the same rest stop where you can see the large, majestic looking wind turbines turning slowly in the wind. Well, not really slowly. If you were a fly at the end of one of the turbine blades I'm sure you wouldn't say it's at all slow. The turbines are just so huge that the turning looks slow and majestic from a distance.

Speaking of flies there were several inside that rest stop too. In the men's room. In the urinals. These aren't your every day urinals, mind you. They are the waterless kind. The kind that uses a floating trap of chemical sealant that allows the waste to flow unimpeded to the pipes below while separating the rest of us from the pipes and all the stuff they contain. No water is wasted to flush things down the drain. The savings in flushes and noise and water must be tremendous.

The flies aren't your every day ones either. Someone got the clever idea of putting a decal of a fly near the bottom back wall of each urinal! Clever. The fly is a target to aim for. I read that maintenance crews at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam reported in 2005 that adding a fly target to urinals reduced bathroom cleaning costs by giving men something to aim at.

Men need that. Something to aim at. Targets. Being the goal-oriented creatures we are. And it's fun, too! Gives you something to do during the down time in the restroom. I mean, you're just standing there anyway so you might as well make a game of it. Men need that too. Fun and games, that is.

We're simple folk, us men. Don't need much. Targets. Games. Fun. Ah! The stuff of life!

Simplicity

We in the good old US of A are really into conspiracies: There was no Holocaust. The NASA moon program was faked. John F. Kennedy was killed by the mafia. Or Fidel Castro. Or the Soviets (before they stopped being the Soviets). You get the picture. We love a plot. A scheme. A complex story. It couldn't possibly be that simple. That stupid. That random that a lone shooter with a warped mind would take out JFK.

Happiness couldn't possibly as simple as giving things away so that you're free to love. Giving it all away. Sacrificing. It all. So that others can live, too. And love, too. Check this out. It's supposed to make you think. Well. It made me think anyway. Advent Conspiracy

Concerto No. 2, Third Movement by Friedrich Seitz

I was wrong. It wasn't wetless coming back south yesterday afternoon. An afternoon that stretched into night. There was snow around Pittsburgh. About and inch or so. And there was a bit of snow over the mountains on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Then it was dry. Until just west of Frederick, Maryland. There was a bit of snow there. Maybe a quarter of an inch, if that, for maybe a four mile stretch over a tiny hill along Interstate 70.

Pittsburghers know how to drive in the snow. We all just slowed down and made it through going around 45 to 55 miles an hour. And for the most part the Turnpike road crews kept ahead of the snow and the roads were wet but not slick. In Maryland we stopped and waited and crawled and lurched and stopped some more. For an hour. For more. As a result we got back here in eight hours from Meadville instead of the five and one-half it should have taken.

We left Meadville after having lunch with Michael and three of our friends (our neighbors) from Meadville times. We went to Meadville right after a morning recital at Edinboro University's music building.

It was there that we saw and heard Brid play Concerto No. 2, Third Movement by Friedrich Seitz. It was the best we've ever heard her play. Her fingers danced over the violin like the toes of a ballerina playing the part of the Chinese girl in the Nutcracker. The music singing from the violin was lilting and uplifting and made the quick trip up and the long snowy trip back worthwhile.

Kate and I originally were ticketed in to see violinist virtuoso Itzhak Perlman play with the National Symphony Orchestra last night at the Kennedy Center. But when Brid's recital date was finalized we happily exchanged the tickets for a night in February. I'm glad we did. Oh I'm sure Perlman was good. Spectacular probably. But he wouldn't have brought tears to my eyes like I had in the music hall in Edinboro while listening to the Third Movement of Friedrich Seitz's Concerto No. 2.

Layers

I'm dressed in layers today. Three on the top. Two on the lower half (lined flannel pants). And that's before the lined jacket and cap go on. We'll be leaving soon for northwestern Pennsylvania for a whirlwind, in-and-out trip to see our granddaughter play in a violin recital tomorrow. She's becoming quite good and we're excited to see (well, really, hear) the new pieces she's learned this fall.

So, we drive up today. Go to the recital tomorrow morning. Drive back right afterward. A lot of driving but definitely worth it. The plus is that the weather will be wetless. No snow or rain or in between forecast except for maybe a few flakes in the snowbelt near Lake Erie. It will be cold, however. Thus, the layers.

I've become acclimated to the warmer temperatures down here. I don't really relish getting cold again right now. Kooper is coming along, too. He has built in layering and doesn't seem to mind the cold. In fact, he may relish it. I know he likes the snow. Maybe I need more fur. Maybe humans lost too much of our natural layering while evolving on the savannah and should grow it back now that some of us have migrated to colder regions.

Then again, probably not. In a few years there won't be any colder regions left. We will have waited Mother Nature out! Chalk one up for the humans!

Proposition 8

Short but important blog this morning.  Click on this link to see a wonderfully hilarious Hollywood spoof musical (brief - three minutes) on California's Proposition 8 debacle (you may recognize many of the players from your favorite movies and TV shows): Funny or Die

Dog Years

It was very cold last night. A heavy frost. The kind that you have to scrape hard from the car windows. Maybe that's the reason Kooper seemed especially slow on our morning walk. He took his time sniffing and exploring along the way. Although we didn't stay out too long, since my hands were getting numb. No gloves on. I was thinking while the two-year old-plus Kooper was moving along languidly that he's definitely out of his puppy stage. He's not awkward anymore. He doesn't jump up and down with crazy joy like puppies do. Like the way he used to a while back.

Bess, our Springer Spaniel from a couple dog-lives ago, was a puppy for at least three years. It wasn't until then that she calmed down and stopped chewing everything in sight. Records. Furniture. Shoes. The cardboard tubes that the paper towels and toilet paper and wrapping paper come on (she loved those). And Christmas wrappings. Christmas was her favorite time. She couldn't wait to get at the wrapping paper that was discarded as we unwrapped gifts.

Lady was five years old when I picked her up to bring home so she was technically not a puppy at all then or even close to puppy years. But I don't think she ever graduated out of her rebellious adolescence. She was always spry and had that mischievous look in her eyes, as if to say, "I'm about to do something that you won't like and I don't really care. Ha ha!"

It will be interesting to see what kind of dog the new First Family adopts to bring into the White House. And what kind of personality it has. And what famous antiques it chews up.

Big Oil

I noticed yesterday that the Obama team has nominated James Jones as National Security Advisor. Jones sits on the Board of Chevron Corp., a seat that may give some people pause, since Chevron is a huge energy conglomerate and because oil is a big reason we are at war now in the Middle East. No doubt Mr. Jones will vacate his Board seat before taking his new one in the White House.

Meanwhile back on the oil-using side of the equation, our old Subaru needs an oil change. It's needed one for quite some time. Since August really. But when the oil light came on last time an oil change was preempted when our auto mechanic added oil when he saw it was low. Not this time. The oil indicator light has gone on again. No doubt prompted by the hundreds of miles put on traveling to and from Pennsylvania this past weekend. So Kate will arrange for a complete oil do-over. Drain the oil. Change the filter. Replace the gooey oil with new, clean oil. From the Middle East no doubt. Maybe even from a Chevron subsidiary.

Just doing our part for the cause.

Meltdown

It was snow country in northwestern Pennsylvania and over its mountains this past weekend, as Kate and I traveled here and there to remind us what we're thankful for and give thanks. The snowbelt was carpeted with former Lake Erie water and some of the white stuff coated the ground at the tops of the Alleghenies. It was interesting watching the car's outside thermometer reading go down as we climbed up the mountains on Interstate 80, reaching 31 F at the summit and then slowly rising again on the downhill roll. The snow was gone, too, on the other side. Just steady light rain for the rest of the trip, first to drop Patrick off at his home and then on south to Washington. There, the weather was comparably balmy. No snow or even hint of it, except in the light icicles that drip from the rooftops as the newly placed Christmas decorations pop up here and there.

There aren't too many lights on houses yet. I'll be interested to see what downtown Alexandria looks like. The town's light-up night was last Friday and things should be festive and bright in an American Shopping District kind of way down along King Street - the major shopping street in Alexandria.

The cash registers of the businesses along King Street may not be very full though. It remains to be seen if there is a flurry of buying and spending this holiday season. It may be a cold, long, quiet few weeks in those stores heading into winter. The economic melt down may see to that.