Damned Rodan's Christmas Special

Well, Merry Flippin' Christmas and Happy Horrordays to the lot of you. This holiday season has been a mighty different animal for the old man. It's the first year of my life I haven't shared Christmas with my mom and my brother, and my daughter wasn't able to be here this year either. So — as we did at Thanksgiving — Brugger and I have been making our own special time and, happily, succeeding admirably. Yesterday, we got out early from the office, as is proper for Christmas Eve. Now, these past few years, our Christmas Eve tradition has been to visit The Grove Winery on our way to Martinsville, but since we left from the office, heading in that direction would have taken us far out of our way. So we said no. Instead, we hied ourselves down to The Vino Shoppe in High Point, not far at all from work, where we enjoyed some fine vino in that pleasant establishment. Then, accompanied by our favorite Christmas tunes, we made our way to the old homestead in Martinsville.

Last year, Ms. B. and I spent a marvelous Christmas Eve in the company of fellow authors Stephen & Samaire Provost. Last night, we did the same, but this time here at Pleasant Hill rather than at their place. As then, we ended up yakking, feasting, and imbibing until the wee hours (though not quite as wee as last year). This is one "new" tradition that I hope we can maintain for the foreseeable future.

After our friends' departure, Brugger and I made the necessary reparations to the property. Unlike last year, it wasn't frigid outside, so I spent a little quality time on the front porch surveying the kingdom and enjoying the Christmas lights around the neighborhood. That's our tree you see in the photo at left, viewed from the porch. All this made for a warm, satisfying end to the evening, and though somewhat bittersweet, I found it all very fulfilling. In some respects, I don't think I've yet experienced the true impact of these rather profound life changes; on the other hand, I have no illusions about their permanence. We deal with such things or we don't. So far, I'm firmly ensconced in the "dealing" column.

This morning, at the ass crack of dawn, I got up to start our pot roast dinner, and then returned to bed for a bit. Once both of us got up, we had a nice breakfast and then exchanged some mighty wonderful Christmas gifts. I don't think either of us have any complaints in that regard! We both made out nicely.

Since it was such a temperate day, we headed out to the newest extension of the Dick & Willie Rail Trail, not at all far from the homestead. It probably comes as no surprise to those of you who visit these pages that I placed a couple of new geocaches. I've already set up the listings, and I do hope they will be published on geocaching.com very soon.

Our big dinner will be ready shortly, and then Ms. B. and I shall return to Greensboro. Although one of our heretofore inviolable Christmas Eve traditions has been to watch A Christmas Story, our new social tradition precluded that activity last night. Thus, we shall avail ourselves to it this evening, and most likely National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

I so hope that those of you who celebrate Christmas have found it wonderful. If you don't, I trust the day has been good to you as well. Bless you.

The Christmas Troll

Old Dude and Nice Lady on the new section of Dick & Willie trail, near Pleasant Hill

One of my favorite gifts from Ms. B.: a picture box she made with souvenirs from Europe