12 December … 

 

When we were in Dollar Tree last month, Paul came across a collection of holiday earrings which he said his mother would like.  Some were four pair to a card and some two pair to a card.  And one, star flakes which light up, were only one pair to a card.  We bought one each and I kept two pair for myself.  The others we cut into single cards and he has been giving them to his mother (spaced a day or so apart) at breakfast.

There are snowmen, tree ornaments (one set of red balls and one of green), angels, stars, Santa heads, snowmen, and wreaths.

He was right … she seems to be liking them.

The last pair will be delivered the last day of school before holiday break.

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The art show last week was interesting.  It was centered around “Loss”.  Three of the “kids” had entries in the show … John had a triptych of lost shoe photographs, Mike had an oil painting of a man sitting on the curb at the edge of a road (lost self?), and Tyler had an “illustrated” deer skull titled “Finding Beauty in Death”. 

I didn’t get pictures.

I’ve been to art museums, but I’d never been to an art show in an art gallery before.  

There were some grabbing entries, some real schlock, and everything in between.

The most fun was observing the people (although there were too many people for the size of the gallery imho).  They ranged from those showing work … to relatives and friends of those showing work … to those who had been afraid to show work … to those really wanting to see what was shown … to those there to be seen … to those interested in making contacts … to those who wondered where they were and how they got there.  I’d guess most every “show” is similarly attended.

Maybe I’ll go back to look when there are few or no people.

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My second meeting as a Board member of the Hammond Landowners Association was last night.  I spent most of the meeting listening and getting a feel for the members.

Membership on the Board seems to be pretty well balanced between the sections of the Ranch so everyone is represented.  And watching and listening to the individuals was fascinating.  One has a lisp which gets accentuated when they are upset with an idea or an action.  One is quiet until the subject is one in which they are interested and then they become very vocal.  One is soft-spoken but worth hearing.  One is VERY dedicated to one issue almost to the point of obsession.  One likes the wine and says little.  One is loud and dominates most issues.  One wants to help everyone.  And then there is me.

I spoke out twice … once when I was asked a direct question about past happenings.  The other to ask why they kept saying to put “it” on the website when the website is not well done and few people look at it.

Two people recently resigned (I’m still not sure of those dynamics) and it turns out one of them was doing an excessive amount of work on HLA projects etc.  It will be interesting to see how all those roles are filled.

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Weather turned warmer and the wet was rain rather than snow.  A couple of weeks  remain before the big day, so a White Christmas is still a possibility.

Prediction is “warmer and wetter” at least for the next few days. 

Oh well …

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This coming Saturday is my second opera attendance for this season.  Neera and I will be seeing “La Traviata” … but then I’ve rambled on about that opera and the tenor already.  The thing that made me think about it right now is that I was watching the ticket website so I would be sure to get tickets and I almost missed it.  Last friday night, when I went to bed about 2100, tickets weren’t yet posted for sale.  When I checked the next morning at 0600 there were less than two dozen seats available other than those in the very first row and those reserved for wheelchairs.  I was able to reserve two seats in the last row slightly off to the right.  Fortunately, at those HD shows, there aren’t many “bad” seats and, (as I have probably said before) for the price, seeing the opera this way is vastly superior to being at the Met unless you are there for the in-person experience. 

By noon yesterday there were only two seats left and they were singles.

We want to see “Carmen” in February and there will be four of us.  Since that opera is so well-known, I think I’ll have to just keep checking every half hour or so beginning at 2100 the 25th of January to make sure we get seats for the show on the 2nd of February.

I want to take Mark to see “Die Valkyre” on his birthday in March so knowing what time to get on the site for tickets will be essential.

~~~

To end the week …

Life would appear to consist of many doors…

 

… I guess the key is … doing the right thing, everything’s fine; doing the wrong thing, everything’s messy.    … author unknown

 

So … ‘til next week …