A Christmas letter from Lorlee

Ho, Ho, Ho and a Merry, Merry, Merry – as always, if you think these letters are stupid, well just have another egg nog and it will sound better - or you won’t notice.

I am once again working on expanding my circle of friends – you may recall that last year’s effort led to an East Texas retreat with relatives of murderers.  I decided I better look for peace lovers and started attending the local Quaker meetings.  Between 15 and 20 attend so the gathering afterwards allows for real fellowship and making connections. I am planning to attend a Woman’s Tai-Chi retreat in January in NW Texas – so I am hoping for a Quaker-like experience rather than a repeat of the East Texas experience.

Another new activity is the North Texas Traditional Dance Society – specializing in old English dances, the precursors of Virginia reels (you remember those from gym class).  A nice combination of exercise and new people.  And thus far, I have detected no relatives of murderers.

Too many flowers?

One needs also to keep up with old friends.  A great visit to see Joan in Seattle with a side trip to Vancouver Island anchored my summer.  A cool first day but then perfect weather for visits to the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, a lovely low key forest preserve.  Then an overnight by hydroferry to Victoria to see the Buchart Gardens and the  British museum exhibit at the Victoria museum.  I never thought I would say this, but there is such a thing as too many flowers.  At the Buchart they have fabulous dahlias the size of dinner plates – but then they have 100 feet of them.  A sensory overload and too many garden goers.  

I was on a roll so I brought great weather to Minnesota in September – perfect 80 degrees – the first of the summer.  (So if you need your weather improved, just invite me for a visit.)  A day in Minneapolis with Sandy and then dinner with college friends Carter and Rose.  Most all of the family gathered in Alexandria for dinner and lots of photos.  My brother got his boat out for the second time all summer for a tour of Maple Lake in the perfect weather.  Spent a couple of quiet days visiting my mom – who turned 90 in November. 

Decluttering

The rest of my adventures and visits with old friends were closer to home – A visit to East Texas to a Nature Conservancy preserve with an overnight in a cabin by the lake and a visit to the local winery.  A nice, quiet time at the ranch with Patsy and Joe – we simply sit around and read, eat good food, and I make a stop at the farmer’s market in Gustine.  Visits to Fort Worth to see the museums.  A visit in Granbury, TX with Lyn and Denny – college friends.  We had a nice ride on the lake and Lyn is still a great cook. I was a bridesmaid in their wedding and decided that the bridesmaid dress could now hang in her closet after hanging in mine for 40 years.  

In my decluttering mode, the other two bridesmaid dresses that had hung in the closet for 43 and 39 years were delivered to the respective brides – my highschool friend Jackie and my sister.  Amazingly the I could still fit in the one from 1966.  Lots of Xmas ornaments were passed on to unsuspecting nieces and nephews, the maid gets bi-weekly stacks, the local charity stops frequently and I am just getting started.  Don’t be surprised if some crap – I mean—wonderful treasured item ends up in your mailbox. 

No frog report

Season tickets to two great theaters, monthly meetings of my long running book club, a mystery bookclub at the library, and Skyline Library Friends round out my activities. The Friends do what we can to make up for the cuts in the City Budget.  If things continue, we will all be paying for things individually.  Anyone willing to take on a war or two?

Again this year, there is no frog report (kiss a thousand to find the handsome prince) but I have found some wonderful inanimate substitutes on my trips and at my annual State Fair visit as you can see in the photos.  And I do have Grey Ghost and Hypathia (the cats) to cuddle at night with Keto (the bird) as a natural alarm clock if we sleep too late.  And don’t try to break in the back door because Keto is better than a burglar alarm – though he’s not able to aim the pistol very well yet.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out my postcard blog, (http://anniebartos.blogspot.com/) I hope you will do so.  Approximately 250 of the 700 postcards from my Great Aunt Annie are currently posted.  My hometown newspaper did a story entitled “The Twitter of the 1910’s”  The cards are absolutely charming and provide a glimpse into a simpler time.  

My plan is to stick to landscape gardening this year and let a real farmer do the hard work – I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and look forward to the weekly boxes of produce – though this Northerner will be passing on all the “greens” to her Southern neighbors.  My fruit trees do well and I am experimenting with some berries, kiwis and nuts.

Cancer in the rear view mirror  

The best news for last --  I just had my 5 year checkup and all is well. As my sister-in-law said, “The more space between the cancer and your rear view mirror, the better”—and when you reach this milestone, the doctor hugs you and the Mammogram Center gives you congratulatory cards.  

To sum it up, I am old enough to get Social Security, but not old enough for Medicare so the only choice is to keep working. Still looking for new friends, still rooting for universal health care and hoping for world peace – Heck, I might even settle for more peace in the US Senate.