A New Year cometh...

In three days 2015 will be history. This has not been the best of years. Personal loss included a sister and a wife. Personal benefits include good health, five children and families who love and support each other and me, and new friends made and kept. A great-grandson made his appearance and is a loving joy. Out of deference to his parents’ wishes, no one in the family is putting his pictures in social media on the web. But take my word for it he is a handsome little man. Siblings and close old friends continue to do well and we are grateful for that and them. 

As we greet the New Year we are on the run-up to the Presidential primaries and later the election. In this mornings paper a lead story says that all the tickets are sold out for a local (Hilton Head Island) appearance by Donald Trump. At this time a year ago not many saw this wheeler-dealer leading the Republican pack at this time. I belong to the school-of-thought that says thrill seekers will attend a manhole cover opening but not many will jump in. We shall see.

Our country collectively faces many challenges, foreign and domestic in 2016. Some of these are old problems and there will be new ones. Individually, obesity is a major problem for too many Americans. I am shocked at the size of some people I see locally and as I travel around on the East Coast. 

But every year as I grow older, I remain convinced this is still the greatest country in the world. I traveled to Northern Virginia over Christmas and saw new growth and building underway in several venues. Projects I witnessed starting a couple of years ago have been finished. People have new places to live and work.  

I have unbounded faith that we -- the American people -- will meet the challenges in 2016 and a year from now look back on a great year. 

I hope it will be so for all of you and your loved ones. Do the best you can for yourself and others. You will be happiest. 

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

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They sent me home with the mince pie

As evening shadows were descending on Myrtle Beach, SC, on Saturday (December 12, 2015) my two daughters and a daughter-in-law were wrapping the left over Mince pie in aluminum foil and putting it along with the hard sauce in a paper bag for me to take back to the hotel. They expressed the hope that the pie (only one piece had been eaten during dessert) would also make it to my home in Hilton Head and not be eaten during the night. 

I had requestedd the Mince pie be added to the dessert table for our Big Family Christmas (BFC) get together. Obviously, it was not a big favorite. Carrot cake pastries were in the lead. In earlier days my wife, the children’s mother, and I hosted this event at our house. This early celebration was to accomodate those with small childrn who wanted to be in their own home on Christmas morning. Over the years it also accomodated children who had to travel long distances. This season a son and D-i-L planned to start the drive to their new home in Arizona on December 13. 

My daughter Wynn and her husband Rett have picked up the reins and host the annual get together in Myrtle Beach, a favorite vacation spot for Americans and Canadians who love the more than 30 golf courses available here.  All the children have been able to make it for the last few years. Earlier, some would be overseas on assignment and unable to attend. As the senior present, I gave the thanks and asked the blessing, always remembering the members of our extended families who were elsewhere on the day.

Several years ago we stopped buying gifts for all and went to drawing names and buying a gift for the person whose name we drew. The actual drawing took place right after Thanksgiving and was conducted by my daughter and her youngest son. We would get a message telling us whom we were to buy for. Two years ago we stoppeed that. We are adults and most of us have what we need or want or (excluding the latest Lexus or a trim figure.) We adopted the Chinese Christmas game.

i wound up with a Hillary Nutcracker. Actually I started out with an electronic fly-swatter and swapped it for the Nutcracker.

We had a good BFC, enjoyed the fun with family and a couple who are like family. My great-grandson was on hand with his parents. All day long he was a perfect child, not a cry, whimper or yelp out of him and he is only eleven months old. 

Back to the pie. I put it in the refrigerator at the hotel and brought it home. I am eating on it daily; being good (in case Santa is checking) and limiting myself to one slice a day.

I wish everyone a blessed and Merry Christmas. May we and the World have peace and love on this special day and experience a great New Year full of hope and progress. - Archie

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Peanut butter dripped on my shirt

I was still coming down from a non-alcoholic high on Friday morning. The final play of the Thursday Night Football game resulted in a 27-23 win for my beloved Green Bay Packers over the Detroit Lions. It wasn’t difficult to get started for the day, especially after I watched a video of the final play a couple of times and then learned that this Hail Mary pass into the end zone is somethting the Packers practice. Who knew? I would not be surprised to learn all teams practice it.

Buttressed by coffee, toast, the obligatory shower and shave, clean underwear and I was off to the Hilton Head World Affairs Council held in the Presbyteriaan Church to hear a woman who specializes on Middle East affairs, Ellen Laipson. (Click on her name to view her credentials).

Ms. Laipson gave an informative overview of how the Middle East was formed after World War I and how events are playing out in the present. There is so much in the news these days about the Middle East it is helpful to sit back and have an overview presented succintly. Ms. Laipson doesn’t have any “solutions” to the problems posed by the area today and in the immediate future. "If she did,” I told a friend, “she would not be in Hilton Head speaking to more than 300 seniors.” In my opinion there isn’t any one “solution” to the challenges the world faces in the Middle East. But we ( the inhabitants of the planet Earth) go on anyway.

I did a little shopping on the way home. It was past noon when i unloaded the groceries and realized I needed something to eat. I put two slices of cinnamon raisin bread in the toaster and poured a glass of ice tea. When the toast popped I lathered it with peanut butter and carried my snack to my favorite chair where I picked up the current issue of The New York Review of Books to continue reading “Hanging Out With Hitler,” a review of three books by Martin Filler. None of these made me wish I could hang out with that evil man. I belong to the group that wishes I could have been present at Hitler’s birth so I could strangle him as he came out of the womb instead of the mid-wife slapping his arse to make him cry out.

And then I looked down at my blue striped dress shirt and saw a large gob of melted peanut butter still rolling and coming to a stop at the third button from the neck. Heat from the toasted bread was the culprit. It liquidfied the peanut butter. To paraphrase Jimmy Carter I won’t lie to you. I used the index finger of my right hand to scoop the peanut butter off my shirt and popped it in my mouth.

Later in the evenng, I watched  a fine movie written, directed and starring one of my current favorite actors, Kevin Spacey. “Beyond the Sea”, a fantasy telling of the life of Bobby Darin. Spacey used his own voice to sing the songs and had Darin’s moves down pat. It is available on Amazon Prime for free viewing or can be purchased on Amazon. 

After that, I took off the shirt and tossed it the laundry hamper. 

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