CHRISTMAS BECKONS

Today is December 17, so Advent is coming to a close & Christmas Eve is exactly a week away. So far I've yet to get a haircut from Rose Chairge in West Pittston but I've kept track of her phone number so I can make an appointment for the upcoming week. Tonight, at 7:00, is a party over at O.L. Sorrows in honor of Fr. Leonard Butcavage. I'm taking chicken. He spent a few months with us recently & often returns for parties & special occasions. The weather has been very bitter cold recently but there haven't been any significant snowstorms, only a few that were slightly aggravating. Unfortunately the rest of the country has very bad blizzards. I got a Christmas card from Carole, my old supervisor from Citicorp, a few days ago. I've yet to get one from Grace, Daren's mother. I sent out a card to each of them two days ago. Of course we've been getting inundated with all sorts of left~wing manipulations of language & symbolism these days, as always, pretending that it's just another holiday season. Liberals always claim they have the right to control us for the sake of not offending the supposedly maligned minorities & other special interest groups. Yet another dark side of Christmas is the inevitable greeting card from at least one relative or acquaintance, always a tangential character, who appears to be harboring the very definitely mistaken impression that people are impressed by, or interested in, his, & his family's escapades from the past year. There's one of those in each crowd. These cards always seem to be filled with references to promotions, scholarships & glamorous vacations. They're more boring than offensive. Unfortunately there was just an extremely bad accident over by the Midway Shopping Center's parking lot this morning. I heard that a car was cut in half. That's quite a dangerous intersection. A couple of days ago I took advantage of some coupons for Dunkin' Donuts. I got a half dozen donuts & a hot latte'.

COFFEE

It started snowing this morning. My parents were saying that an ambulance paid a visit to one of the old couples in the neighborhood during the night. I should hope all goes well for them. Nothing much of any significance has been happening to me lately but that will all change on Friday morning. I shall have to be in Luzerne, at my Knights of Columbus council, bright & early to be on the bus to Washington, D.C. I shall start getting things ready, a little at a time, over the course of today & tomorrow. The bus ride may get me a little crazy since I've never been able to sleep on a moving vehicle. I shall have to take something with me to read. Ever since I got a bag of coffee over at Dunkin' Donuts last week, I have really been noticing how theirs is so much better than the other brands. I'd never even think of getting any from Starbucks. Theirs rivals Sanka for the worst of all possible fates worse than death.