I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions. Already, I’ve already broken vows to lose weight and grow hair that were iffy to begin with. The jury is still out on the annual pledge to read more books.
But why wait for the new year? My preference is to sprinkle personal efforts to improve throughout the year. Among those: once I get in touch, try hard to stay in touch. A notable example is a regular letter to folks you’ve heard of before: my friends Jane and Dave.
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January 4, 2011
Jane/Dave: As is the custom of the postal delivery services down here, your sparkly holiday card just arrived. But it still merited a place on the mantel next to the other U.S. mail items that remain unopened such as bills, tax notices and numerous offers of free dinners at nice restaurants if I want to sit through an investment spiel. I don’t know where they get their mailing lists but it can’t be predicated on the balance in one’s checking or savings accounts.
Coeur d’Alene is still in my rearview mirror although I look at the pictures and scorecard (also on the mantel) with some regularity. It was the high point of the year. At some point it is worth a return trip since there were many holes we did not conquer, such as holes 1- 18. But still it was an incredible time and an incredible place.
I am at the office computer this morning. As you may have heard, I am back among the working and glad of it. I’m one more cog in the wheel that answers the many, many letters of complaint that come into the mortgage division every day. I don’t write the letters but orchestrate some of the responses. Perhaps it’s not my ideal job but it sure beats the alternative. As is also the custom of the bank, the actual call to arms for me came at the 11th if not the 12th hour. I was hopeful of such a call but was resigned to know that if the phone did not ring then something else would’ve surfaced. I’d scraped together some freelance work and that might have sufficed. If nothing had panned out then yes, I would’ve taken the investment houses up on their offers of a free meal. That would have forced them to look at their mailing lists much more closely. But the turn of events is what makes the possibility of a return to Idaho that much more appealing.
In that vein, the door is still open for anyone who wants to visit the Carolinas and needs a home base from which to do so. I’ve watched your weather and I know it is somewhat better down in these parts. By my reckoning, the cold here will last another six to seven weeks or so and then it will warm up consistently into the mid-60s and above as the days get longer. As it is, it will be 55f today but it will be the coldest 55f you’ve ever felt. Must be the damp air. I bundle up most mornings as if I still lived in the Midwest. Actually, there is good golf locally and within hailing distance at Pinehurst, Myrtle Beach and other spots in South Carolina. The only downer is the dormant Bermuda which is like playing on thin mud. But at least we don’t have to clear the snow away before we strike the golf ball.
My Ellen was discussing baby names over the Thanksgiving holiday so they seem to have broken the ice on the topic. Most of her cronies have joined the mommy brigade and it may be that she doesn’t want to be left out. But there’s plenty of time for her to deal with that and I’m not ready yet to be a grandpa but it will be what it will be. Jane, you’ll have to mentor me on appropriate gifts from the grandchild-gift challenged. I could be like Earl Woods and get him/her/them (there is the potential for twins) some clubs but Ellen might not like that all that much. Hey, it’s never too early to learn.
Thanks again for the nice card and given my propensity for keeping most items of paper hanging around, it will grace the mantel for some time to come. When you make plans to visit this burg, let me know.
The Weight of a Single Page 