Merry Christmas from the land of OZ!! Tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes – OH MY! The year 2011 has been surreal. It started in April when a tornado passed through our neighborhood and rudely picked up our Bradford Pear tree and dumped it on top of Diana's car, my car, our neighbor's car and our front porch... It was a big tree! My neighbor and I had minimal damage but Diana’s car was totaled. Of course the good news is she now has a new Corolla and loves it! Then in August I was on the eleventh floor of the courthouse preparing for court when I felt my chair vibrate and the building sway. I thought I had sudden onslaught of a bizarre neurological disorder and then my mind went through other numerous explanations.. bomb, gas leak explosion, 18 wheeler truck ramming the building....... but no, according to the news it was the after shock of a earthquake. Earthquake? And you thought a neurological disorder was an absurd conclusion. Less than a week later we learned that Hurricane Irene was headed for the North Carolina coast and I was sure with our luck the eye of the storm would pass right through downtown Raleigh. But the storm stayed on the coast and disaster was averted. Then in November the unthinkable happened... our computer crashed. It is amazing how much information you can store on a computer and how much you miss it when it's gone. But the worst is the pictures and contact information. Diana is trying to restore the data but for all those friends who did not get a Christmas letter this year, I apologize. Oh right, they can't hear me. So sad.
Fortunately, 2011 wasn't all doom and gloom. In May Diana and I traveled to Indiana for her brother Denny's 40th birthday. His big present was a ride on a WWI bi-plane. We went to the airfield to watch him take off and land, and he reminded me of Snoopy! No he did not look like a dog but he looked adorable in his aviator cap and goggles. On the way to Indiana we spent a week in Kentucky exploring the things that make Kentucky famous... horses, bourbon and bats (as in baseball, not flying rodents).
You may have heard of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory in, well, Louisville. I proudly wore my Chase Utley Phillies tee shirt and was dubbed “Mrs Utley” by the factory tour guide. I got to be Mrs. Utley for an hour, and I got a souvenir bat too! It doesn't get much better than that! Horses are the heart and soul of Kentucky which is evident from the horse farms of Lexington to Churchill Downs in Louisville. My favorite place was the Old Friends Horse Farm where horses that are too old to race (three years is over the hill) and no longer produce off-spring are sent to retire. They are fed, housed, groomed and play Bingo every Friday night. Where do I sign up? Last but not least, Kentucky is known for its bourbon so we took a side trip to Woodford Reserve Distillery and ended the tour with a sample shot of bourbon. Diana took a sip, made a face, said it was awful and then proceeded to drain every drop from her glass and lick the glass clean. She said she didn't want the bourbon to make a mess in the car, but I suspect a serious drinking problem. In addition to the IN/KY trip, Diana and I spent a week-end in Fredericksburg, VA and a week in Myrtle Beach, SC with my oldest friend, Joani George. Joani and I have been friends for a hundred years. Her family moved into the house behind ours when Joani was 4 and I was 2....okay, my math is off but Joani and I have been friends for a very long time and it was great to spend time with her!
I am looking forward to 2012 like waking up from a bad dream. If I click my heels and say, “There's no place like home” maybe my world will return to normal. Or maybe normal is over rated, and I need to embrace the surreal. I was reminded this week, during “Survivor”, that when you are in a place where nothing is certain you reach for that which grounds you and for me that is my faith. For my “Survivor” fans that is a loose translation of the words of Coach “the Dragon Slayer” Wade. Now there's a man with a firm grip on reality. But the sentiment is true. This is the season to celebrate the beginning of the Christian faith when a homeless couple took shelter in a stable, and the Savior of the world was born surrounded by cattle, sheep and retired horses. It doesn't get more surreal than that!
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