My post Thanksgiving blog shared the latest iteration of a Happy Holidays in song playlist to allow folks to enjoy musical cheer throughout the holiday season.

Happy Christmas!   It's a very special day. Children are running down the stairs to open presents and people are smiling.   I wish everyone joy, peace and happiness!   And BTW, the James Webb Telescope was successfully launched this morning but it's just the start. The telescope has to go through about 344 steps and travel a few months to get to a point in space it can begin to search the universe.

Our granddaughter Maggie came home from college for the holidays last week and stayed with us due to illness in her home. Her stay was highlighted by our parenting her through previously scheduled LASIK eye surgery.

This past Tuesday was the Winter Solstice - the “shortest day of the year”. It was also the first day of winter. Winter conjures up visions of cold and snow. For me, beginning yesterday, the days will be getting longer and we’ll enjoy a little more sunlight every day. I’ll focus on the sunshine and look forward to Spring Equinox. Happy Holidays.  

For over 40 years, The Kennedy Center Awards have celebrated America’s cultural icons. This year’s cast of honorees are terrific.  In alphabetic order they are: the opera singer Justino Diaz, Motown’s creator Berry Gordy, singer-actor Bette Midler, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, and singer Joni Mitchell.  

We have all had at least one, or now maybe two birthdays since the pandemic began.  Celebrations have turned into gyrations of creativity and honestly it has been fun to watch.  

Anyone who knows me knows I love to travel.  The last time I travelled outside of the US was in February 2020.  We had planned and taken a family trip to Italy.  We left evening the day after COVID-19 was detected in Italy    

I suspect folks who attended the Gotham Happy Hour on Friday might expect one of my musicals blog. Suspect they need to wait until the proverbial next year, to apply the well-used cliché. Instead, I prefer to hail and welcome a significant change in the fraternal Order Knights of Pythias.