Christmas Wishes

Grrr, that just makes me mad. I had what I thought was a great post yesterday. But I got to thinking that it sounded a little familiar. So I went back and reviewed my Christmas posts for the last couple of years. You guessed it, yesterday's post is an almost note-for-note remake of the one in December 2008. Damn! What- am I that hard-up for material...that short on creativity? I must've had the Chiffons' "He's So Fine" running in my head when I wrote yesterday's post*.

You can read 2008's post HERE if you like. You probably won't be able to tell the difference from yesterday's.

But if you want to read a couple of really GOOD posts about Christmas, read THIS one by my blogger friend Bob from Nashville, TN. And while you're at it, read THIS one from him as well. I've mentioned "Other Bob" before. He writes in an easygoing, casual way. His posts never fail to make me feel good - like a phone call from an old friend. Ahh, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. But I love reading Bob's stuff, as well as posts from Debby in Pennsylvania, and my friend and fellow helicopter pilot, Hal Johnson who should write more.

Anyway, I offer my apology for the repetitive post, which has hastily been deleted. And I hope that you'll accept this modified-and-superior one (with 27% more originality!) in its place. Well, I hope it's superior.

This year has been odd. Christmas came fast!...well, all of 2010 went by in a blink for that matter. Were we all so preoccupied with the economy, politics, a never-ending "war" on...something or somebody, and the existence (or non-) of Big O's birth certificate?

Or were we just having so much fun that the year flew by?

My friend Matt in Atlanta posted on his Facebook that he took Alisha and Dylan out to look at Christmas lights last night (Christmas Eve). Later on he noted that it was, in his words, "kind of lame, not many people decorated." Hmm.

Every year since we've had the helicopter, the Boss usually takes people up to fly around our town and look at Christmas lights. I go along, as I must, and I do not complain. It's always spectacular.

Err, not this year.

This past Monday we went up again shortly after sunset. Gorgeous, brisk night, not-a-cloud, full moon. A beautiful night for flying. I punched up a modern-Christmas music station on the XM radio and flew around, looking for the usual "hot-spots" I figured would be all lit up: No dice. Oh, there were some...the regulars, of course. But as Matt found out was the case up in Atlanta, down here in Brewton, Alabama there were noticeably fewer Christmas lights up this year than last. A puzzling, troubling sign o'the times. We didn't stay up long - it was too depressing.

It's been a tough year, and it seems as though our collective spirit has been broken. It's sad. And my Boss, who's no slouch when it comes to financial stuff, predicts that 2011 may be as bad or worse than 2010. Oh joy! Let us hope he is wrong.

So again I apologize for the repost. But I do want to thank you all for indulging me by continuing to read this never-ending stream-of-consciousness (more like stream-of-crapciousness), and I sincerely wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And I promise not to make this same post next year.


*Oh, and for those of you who might not have gotten the reference, Beatle George Harrison was successfully sued by the writers of "He's So Fine" because they convinced the court that George's "My Sweet Lord" was a direct rip-off.