Holidays are over. Time to flush your humbug and whatever other baggage you have been carrying away.

If you haven't already, it is time to flush your Christmas spirit away. Whether it is good or bad, just let it go.

Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays but I think starting the Christmas season on October first is a bit early. It doesn't seem all that special anymore.

So now we head into the "DEAD" of winter. I tried to look it up on Google for a good definition, but couldn't find one.

I have my own theory, probably one already posted somewhere else. Did you know that the elderly are more likely to die in January than any other month? Some experts speculate that old folks live for the Holidays, and then give it up. There is always a big die off of certain mammal herds in winter. That is nothing new.

This is a pretty depressing post, huh? That's what pops out of my head and into my blog and mostly into my journal late at night. Scary isn't it?

I saw this picture on Google images when I used "FLUSH" as a keyword, and thought it appropriate. New year means new beginnings, and flushing all the baggage, or in this case crap away. I hope you started the New Year with a good healthy Flush. Now get back to work.

A Happy Thanksgiving.....without the Internet

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. It is always seems easy to me to point out everything that is wrong and gripe about it. I hope that everybody took a few minutes to reflect on the many things that people who happen to live in America take for granted and are a true blessing. (Insert what you are thankful for here.)

I traveled to Cape May Point New Jersey for Thanksgiving dinner, at the family beach house. It was a wonderful get together, made even more wonderful by the fact that the Internet was not working. How can this be, no Internet in America?Usually we have no problem with our wireless down there, but this time you no sooner got a connection than it failed.

I want to see Bill Curtis shoot his next "I just found the Internet" commercial there. We could find it, it just kept going into hiding. With Satellite transmissions being blocked by the aliens, it was a good thing that the cable TV still comes in the old fashioned way, by line on a telephone wire. Can you imagine if we would have had no TV? No Football?

I dare not to envision it.

These circumstances made for a nice Thanksgiving gathering, because no one could sneak away and bury themselves in their own little Internet world, reading email, browsing Facebook, or commenting on blogs.Instead we talked to each other face to face.

The women folk actually piled in the car and went shopping at Kmart after dinner. They couldn't go online in private, so they went out as a group. Later that night the family sat around the kitchen table playing board games, with much laughter involved.

There is something to be said about those rare family moments of shared experience. They are becoming few and far between. Those are the memories worth making, and that is another area where Americans are trailing the cultures of other parts of the world.

Technology has changed American culture in many ways, and not always for the better, because it has allowed us to become impersonal. We are more connected to others than ever, yet we are as distant than we have ever been.Thursday I caught a glimpse of a not so recent past that we are forgetting. I hope I get to see it again soon. I kind of liked it.

The best laid plans...

We had big things planned this weekend, We were going to the shore for Thanksgiving, but Mrs C was struck down with a violent case of Bronchial Pneumonia. So Wednesday afternoon the decision was made to stay home. We canceled the dogs visit to the puppy spa, and I headed over to Redners. I purchased a microwave tub of Garlic Mashed potatoes, a Jennie-O Turkey box, and a roll of Pillsbury Biscuits.

So I spent my Thursday being Mr. Domestic, looking after a sick spouse and preparing a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner. I started cooking at 12:30 PM, and I served dinner at 3:15 PM.

I cleared the kitchen Table and set it. I did all the laundry, and I took the dogs out for some exercise and playtime. Mrs C spent most of the day in bed, suffering, but she made it up and out to shower, dress, and come to dinner. Just the two of us.

It was the best Thanksgiving meal I ever had.

Yeah, I missed the rest of the family, but it was nice to have just the two of us, in our home, with the fireplace a blazing. Mrs C took some of the turkey and gravy, and made up three Thanksgiving bowls, one for each dog, stirring the Turkey stuff in with their regular food.
They were very happy puppies, and slept well afterwards.

So our plans changed, and I think in hindsight, they changed for the better. I accomplished a lot in the yard this Saturday, and Friday was fun, because I chaperoned my wife around the valley, to shopping locales. She was a little unsteady and weak, but I kept her warm and made her take a break as needed. She would do the same for me, I'm sure.
Though she admitted Friday night that she might have overdone it, and spent the day Saturday resting at home until evening, when I took her out for a late dinner. I worked from early morning until dark on the yard, doing numerous tasks, including the Christmas decorations.
We have a 15 foot tall Christmas tree in our yard, and I managed to decorate about about 12 feet of it. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a picture and post it. That's all for today. May all of you out there have wonderful Holiday seasons.