Well, maybe just for me.

My family and I spent Christmas week at an all inclusive resort in Rivera Maya, Mexico, a beautiful location. Part of the fun at an all inclusive resort is that all alcohol is included in the price of the hotel. The first day at the beach my family and I had a blast trying all of the frozen concoctions. From the Blue Hawaiian to the Iceberg, we tasted them all.

The lead article in the Times this morning is about loosening restrictions in New York for the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes.  That is a long time coming.  About twenty states allow its limited sale.  

I awoke yesterday morning at about 7:15AM to a blanket of white and the sounds of snow throwers...another suburban moment.   I threw on jeans, T-shirt, heavy socks, a hoodie, ski jacket and boots. Got my gloves and trundled down into the garage to fire up my snow thrower and join the fun. After trying to start it by hand a couple of times I plugged it in and pressed the button for the electric starter. Within a couple of minutes it rumbled to life.  

Today is my Father's birthday and 18 years after his passing I am just starting to miss him. 

Why am I just starting to miss him? He was a "Damon Runyon" ("Guys and Dolls") character, emphasis on character, to the outside world. Although he was a tough SOB and especially hard on his first born son he is finally starting to get through to me. In the early 80s I wrote a painful piece about him and here are some excerpts which will impart some of his "flavor":  

What would you do if you had nothing to do ? I pondered the thought earlier today - New Year's Day - after friends with whom we were to spend the day had to change their plans because of a family emergency. I had been thinking about “unstructured” time as something to aspire to in the new year.  

I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year.  The last several years have brought numerous challenges to many, including myself.  I am anxiously looking forward to this upcoming year with optimism and anticipation.  I look at the upcoming year this way, not because I have a reason to expect success.  The first 18 years of my life consisted of great challenges.  The next 22-23 years of my life were incredibly lucky and blessed.  The last 4-5 have been frought with unfortunate circumstances.