My first thought as I sit at home writing this issue’s page, is to express my fondest wish that each of you had a wonderful holiday season.  I know that some of you have had personal tragedy or loss that dampened this festive time of year.  My friend Dallas Donner had to deal with the loss of his father just prior to Christmas.  I am quite sure that others had problems with which they had to deal.  My thoughts and prayers are with each of you.

     Our holiday season has been filled with good times, but impending sadness.  My brothers and their families came to our home the Monday evening before Christmas in the snowstorm we had that day.  We had a great meal, thanks to Betty’s hard work.  I cleaned house that day (my specialty).  My older brother had my name for Christmas and bought me a new golf pull cart.  This will replace the one I threw in the dumpster behind Landmark Square several months back.  We had a good time together and all returned home safely that evening.

     Nate and Debbie arrived late on the same night from Denver.  They had rented a U-Haul truck and car carrier to move some of their “stuff” to our house.  Most of their belongings were given away, as they are moving to Hawaii to begin their lives together.  (“Sniff, sniff, dab a tear.”)  No problems, with the exception of a blowout on the car carrier and the ice and snow near Wichita.  The Ashida clan arrived on Tuesday.  Lots of new food.  Eat.  Eat.  Nap.  Eat.  We opened gifts for everyone from Nate and Debbie and to Debbie.  The kids got me a new golf bag to go with the old set of irons that Nate had already given me.  Now all I need is lessons.  Betty and I will help financially with the moving costs as we (I) latched onto a 36 inch TV from Nate.

     We did not get to see our granddog, ‘Opu, over Christmas because he will fly back to Hawaii on a direct flight with Debbie’s parents in January.  Her folks were visiting her sister in Denver.  ‘Opu did get me a gift for Christmas.  Before opening the gift, I was advised that he had “marked” it for me.  I wasn’t realll anxious to see it.  It turned out to be a novel entitled Prey by Michael Crichton.  During a short, un-supervised stay in the car, ‘Opu attacked a corner of the book, chewing about a ¾ inch chunk out of the corner.

     To everyone, please have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Bye for now,

Wes