Normally by this time I would be gushing about the excitement of Christmas, stringing foot after foot of outside lights along the house and office roofline and in and around the tree limbs and very carefully around the cactus. Laid low with a miserable chest cold since Thanksgiving, my celebratory activities were cut short. I finally gave up trying to sing in the Christmas Cantata, missed the choir party, and I wasn’t very energetic for digging out and arranging all the inside village decorations either. I hope to do better next year.
The 2011 Christmas montage/letter has been approved by my offspring (Since they are in it as much as I am) so now I can send it on its way. A lot of people don’t like getting a Christmas letter but most of mine go to friends and family I see rarely, if ever anymore. Limiting it to ¾ of a page (plus photo montage at the top), I give them mostly good news about what everybody is doing. I didn’t put in it that sadly I had four extremely close friends leave this earthly plain this year or any other discouraging words and I didn’t include any of my thoughts on politics or the “button-pushing” things I’m working on eliminating from my life.
Since I didn’t have a recent photograph, I sure had fun trying to get one by raising the camera in my right hand and taking a shot into the bathroom mirror. It worked pretty well, especially after I did a little Photoshop trimming. If these letter/photos aren’t appreciated, the recipients have the option of going straight to the bottom for the signature.
If nothing else, writing these missives makes me extremely aware of the blessings I have enjoyed this year. Everyone in the family is working or studying diligently and we’ve all enjoyed good health and have had enough (more than) to eat. We weren’t wiped out by banks, thieves, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, floods, snowstorms, ice storms, or any of the other fun stuff that sweeps through every year.
And with that, I’ll wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and God Bless until next week.
Minshall’s RVing Alaska and Canada (A “How to” and “Why not” book) is available thru Amazon.
At 45, Widow Minshall began 20 years of solo full-time RVing throughout Alaska, Mexico, and Canada. Sharlene canoed the Yukon, mushed sled dogs, worked a dude ranch, visited Hudson Bay polar bears, and lived six months on a Mexican beach. She lectured at Life on Wheels, published six RV-related books and wrote a novel, “Winter in the Wilderness.”
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