Ending the Year On a Good Note

As the year draws to a close it’s time to reflect on the people, places and events that made a difference in our lives the past twelve months. Watching all the specials on television, the internet, or even twitter, one realizes the people who made a difference in the world were the new pope, Edward Snowden, and of course Kim, Kanye and Baby North. Fortunately, in the blogosphere we have more serious concerns, like whether the Mario Brothers will go the way of the Jonases. (no that’s not a typo—don’t be so 20^th Century; besides last century it was “keeping up with” not “go the way of”…get with the program, remember this is satire)

Deb's brother Rick and his grandson,
Isaac--our great-nephew.

My year started a little late when I moved my blog back to BlogSpot and added two new readers. Some of you may have thought I might be upset because I missed my goal of an increase of three, but I stick with the adage that says it’s the quality, not the quantity that counts (all right, so a few things from the 20^th Century are worth keeping) When I started on Valentine’s Day by proposing a new direction in gifts for your lover, it was encouraging to receive such an exuberant response from a large volume of followers.

Besides adding new readers, who immediately become friends for life (wait, don’t hit the link in your browser, you know things pick up after the first couple paragraphs), we made three trips to visit the most important people in our lives: family and friends.

Deb holding her wine glass and cousin
Temmie from Philadelphia.

In spring we flew across the continent to spend time with Deb’s brother on the water in Tampa. Naturally, he decided to undertake a six-month renovation of his home just before we arrived. We did travel the bay in his boat a couple times, but he shipped us off to his daughter and son-in-law to sleep. We drove to Savannah to see the cousin who grew up around the corner from me. While there, we discovered the bugs they call “no see-ums” in Florida are called sand gnats further north. The difference wasn’t so much the name as the fine screens they use in Florida to keep them away were missing, so no matter what you call them we received true southern hospitality—a free skin removal treatment—in Georgia.

In summer we drove up to the Silicon Valley to attend the bat mitzvah of my cousin’s daughter. A lovely affair attended by cousins as far away as Phoenix and Philadelphia, and held in a hillside synagogue with the reception at the University Club on the Stanford campus. The next day we discovered my cousin’s brother and his three sons, fellow Southern Californians who do not drive or use the phone on the Jewish Sabbath, were staying in the room across the hall at our hotel.  Luckily, Deb and I planned a week at Lake Tahoe to recover from the pandemonium.

Deb and her sisters.

Fall found us in the leaf changing Midwest. Besides my daughter, son-in-law and oodles of friends in Milwaukee, we saw my three sisters-in-law, their husbands, a niece and her family (visiting from Florida), two friends in their new coffee shop in Door County, and old neighbors living outside Minneapolis. Stuck with summer, winter or spring breaks during our years of teaching, it was nice to relive not only the crunch of leaves under foot, which accompanies autumn colors, but also the chill in the clear Midwestern air—what we in Orange County call winter.

So, from all of us here at Hi Oh Silver we wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. By the way, the good note is fa.