Friday Hodgepodge

Happy Holidays!

It's that time of the year again, and with it comes my annual week or so off from blogging. This year, I plan to disappear until January 3. I am unlikely to check email or comments during this time, but will catch up soon after.

As always, I thank you for making my blog part of your routine, and I wish you and your loved ones a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Three Things

1. The bad news (for me) is that we still live far-enough north to have to think about winter. The good news is that we're far-enough south that our taste of the recent arctic vortex was just enough snow that the kids could have a fun time with it. As with the blizzard earlier this year, I got a nice picture out of the bargain. Freezing rain preceded our dusting of snow, forming "leafsicles," as my wife called them, on a bush outside. The kids enjoyed crunching on these, including the one pictured.

2. Henry Heimlich has died. I mark his recent passing with gratitude, because I probably owe my life to him.

Years ago, I was eating lunch in an airport. Because of dental apparatus I had to wear at the time, I managed to lodge a chunk of meat in my airway. Before I fully realized what was happening, someone who knew the maneuver used it on me, to my immediate relief.

Rest in peace, Dr. Heimlich.

3. Was someone so distraught by the election of Donald Trump that she stopped wanting to date? The blogger at Hot Air couldn't tell if the account was serious or parodic, but he offers the following wisdom:

It is possible to disconnect the results of an election, even a disappointing one, from one's personal life. In fact, having a personal life that isn't wrapped up in politics is one way to cushion the blow when things don't go as you'd hoped. If election results are robbing you of joy and hope, maybe take a break and find something else that inspires you. There really is more to life than politics.

Amen, so to speak.

Weekend Reading

"Perspective doesn't mean denying your appreciation for things." -- Michael Hurd, in "Perspective Is Everything" at The Delaware Wave

"Leave it to the eternally smug Oprah Winfrey to provide Michelle Obama the forum in which to spread the party line that a president can inspire hope and confidence merely by uttering the words to an unthinking public." -- Michael Hurd, in "Obama's More Govt [sic] Leaves Us Less Hopeful" at Newsmax

One More for the Road

Or would that be the air?

Over at McSweeney's is an amusing dose of perspective for anyone who will be flying with kids: "I'm an Excellent Conversationalist on Airplanes."

Whatever your kids might do, they are saving you from That Guy...

-- CAV