SOLON & BEYOND: Received a letter from NRCM

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Received a most welcome letter this week that pleased me greatly. It was from the Natural Resources Council of Maine…and it starts with these words: “Thank you for submitting your letter to the editor titled Thankful for Strong Opposition to CMP Corridor that ran on November 17, in the Kennebec Journal. We value your commitment to make the public aware of this critical environmental issue.

“We welcome you to become an NRCM member. Your letter to the editor is aligned with the work that we do. We would like you to partner with us.

“When you join NRCM you are giving the gift of clean air and clean water to the next generation. You are helping safeguard large tracts of land that are home to treasured wildlife and are our solace.

“United we can do what no person can do alone. NRCM raises the collective voice of more than 20,000 supporters in front of state and federal officials, corporations, and policy makers. We protect Maine’s environment through sound science and un wavering advocacy efforts. We connect concerned citizens – like you – with the environmental issues of our time.

“Thank you, again, for bringing awareness to concerns facing the nature of Maine. You have made a difference. If you ever have questions or would like additional information about the projects we are working on, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Please join us as a member today. Sincerely, Stacie Haines; Membership Director. Protecting the Nature of Maine. ”

I was pleased to get that letter which said that it was seen in the Kennebec Journal. I have written several letters to the editor about my feelings for the CMP Corridor through Maine’s beautiful wilderness. Some have been printed, like the one that was mentioned in this letter, but I had given up, and then it was printed.

This issue of The Town Line will be the last one until after the New Year so I am short on news….but hope you will enjoy this poem in these dark, dreary days we’ve been having…It is called All Things Bright and Beautiful. All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings. The cold wind in the winter, the pleasant summer sun, the ripe fruits in the garden, He made them, every one, He gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell how great is God Almighty Who has made all things well. (words by Cecil Frances Alexander)

And now for Percy’s memoir called, Of Gifts of Life: Do what you can with the gifts of life and gifts of heart and mind, while they are still within our power to share with humankind – for it is seldom meant to be that gifts we own today, will be forever ours to keep or ours to give away. Don’t let them fade to trials of time or waste to dearths of age, for they are like the joys of youth and luxuries of wage, they’re ours to own for just a while,to do with as we can, that will endear our souls to God and grace our fellow man. (Words by Michael Dubina.)

Have a wonderful happy, Merry Christmas!

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Five foster care facts

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(NAPSI)—When a child or youth is placed into foster care, their safety and well-being become the shared responsibility of the community. Organizations such as the nonprofit Treehouse are an important part of the solution. Staff and volunteers work to provide childhood experiences everyone deserves, connection to resources and a successful launch into adulthood.

With close to half a million youth in care throughout the country, numerous challenges remain. Here are five things to know so you can take action.

1. PTSD for Youth

There is emotional trauma in both being removed from home and the uncertainty that follows. PTSD for youth who have experienced foster care is twice the rate of war veterans.

2. School Challenges

Students in foster care change housing placements an average of three times, and with each move, they lose about six months of academic progress. High school graduation rates for youth in care are about 50 percent nationwide, and less than 3 percent earn a bachelor’s degree.

3. Racial Disparities

Children of color are far more likely to enter the foster care system than their white peers. They are more likely to be removed from their home, stay in care longer and are less likely to return home.

4. After Foster Care

Across the country, close to 26,000 young adults exit foster care each year. Nearly all lack the community network necessary for a supported launch into adulthood. More than a third will experience homelessness at some point by age 26.

5. Partners in Hope

Treehouse’s Graduation Success program is dramatically increasing high school graduation rates—with 77 percent of participants completing school. Through a number of programs, youth partner with Treehouse from birth to well into their 20s.

Visit www.treehouseforkids.org to learn more or make a donation. Your donation supports Treehouse programs from Graduation Success to Holiday Magic, which provides thousands of kids a meaningful holiday gift. You can even honor someone you know who has been impacted by foster care.

I’M JUST CURIOUS – Christmas 2019: Birth of a new tradition

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by Debbie Walker

I am not sure where this came from, I found it on my computer. I very much agree with what it says so I’ll ask for forgiveness if someone else wrote it. I really don’t remember. I hope it opens at least some minds. It’s also right in line with what my mom wanted in her later years.

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods – merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes, there is!

It’s time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper? Everyone – yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the Benjamin’s on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants – all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn’t about big National chains – this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner-operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre..

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about U. S., encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition. Forward this to everyone on your mailing list – post it to discussion groups – throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in your city – send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn’t that what Christmas is about?

Have a wonderful Christmas. Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com with your questions or comments.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Some Christmas music!

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Some Christmas music!

Bing Crosby-Merry Christmas; Decca DL 8128, mono vinyl LP, released 1955 and consisting of selections recorded 1942-51.

Decades before the term came into use, Bing Crosby (1903-1977) was a true ‘multimedia star’ with his very many successful records, radio shows and films. His major talent was being one of the finest singers who ever lived and who influenced so many other major singers who came after him.

Bing Crosby

I was exposed to his singing very early in childhood but my appreciation of the depths of his talent didn’t kick in until after I was 50. And practically every record of his that I have heard has quality.

What stood out was simply the following. Crosby knew how to use the microphone, to connect with the listener and to convey the heartbeat of whatever he sang, whether it was Lecuona’s sweetly hypnotic Siboney, the old standards Home on the Range and Galway Bay, a Cole Porter or Gershwin number, and World War II’s patriotically wistful A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.

The history of this album in its different releases, from the original 1942 Decca 78 of Irving Berlin’s megahit, White Christmas, to a 2014 re-packaging, is covered with exhaustive fascination in the Wiki piece, Bing Crosby Merry Christmas; Crosby’s recording of that song alone has sold 50 million copies. The album’s mere 15 million sold copies is second only to Elvis Presley’s Christmas album.

Carol Richards

The above mono edition is a pink label Decca with very clean surfaces and the most natural sound , and I speak as one with the least interest in different masterings of the same record.

In addition to White Christmas, 11 choice selections are presented here – the seasonal hymns Silent Night, Adeste Fideles and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen;Faith of Our Fathers, which he made his own; I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Jingle Bells, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas, Christmas in Killarney, Mele Kaliki­maka and my special favorite, the best rendition of Silver Bells that I have ever heard that he recorded in the exquisitely honed harmonizing with Carol Richards on July 8, 1950.

 

 

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Spreading the holiday business cheer!

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Growing your businessby Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

This time of the year is a perfect time to show your customers how much you appreciate their business, and especially their loyalty throughout the year. It provides an excellent opportunity to connect with your customers a bit more personally.

Look, there is nothing that says that you have to do anything for your customers. You have provided them with a service, or a product, and they have paid you and that’s good enough. Leave it at that…but that would be a missed opportunity to create customer loyalty. So, don’t do that if you’re serious about growing your business.

By giving your customers a small token of your appreciation, not to mention good will, you are creating a bond with them that goes deeper than the normal customer relationship. The effort is small (not to mention fun!) and the rewards are enormous.

If you’re a landscaper, then give your customers a nice fresh wreath for their front door, or a poinsettia.

If you’re in the restaurant business, offer your customers a special holiday desert… on the house.

If you own a spa, then give your customers a free bottle of that special lotion, they like so much.

If you’re a newspaper carrier and you hand out holiday cards, make sure you sign them with a little message. Even if you have a hundred customers, the effort will be worth it.

Even if your business is less personal like a plumbing or electrical business, there is no reason for you to miss out on this opportunity of bonding, through giving. Send your customers a beautiful holiday card signed by your team (Yes, please sign your cards, there is nothing more impersonal than cards with a printed signature if that’s what you plan to do…don’t bother, the effort is destroyed). Or, send them a beautiful calendar, something they can use all year long. Or better yet put a discount coupon in with the card.

And one thing more, let’s do role reversal here. When you receive a gift from your customer. A card. Or a restaurant gift card, or a monetary gift, make sure you thank them by sending a thank you card. A gift from a customers means you are doing a good job for them, and they appreciate you. Show them that you appreciate them and the gift by sending them a nice handwritten thank you card.

This time of the year, is the very best time to spread good cheer and gratitude and also assure your customers that you appreciate their patronage. And that’s a wonderful way to grow your business.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: The great squirrel apocalypse: where have they all gone?

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Over the last several months, I have received many inquiries about what appears to be a shortage of gray squirrels in central Maine. Time and time again I have received emails asking what has happened.

Some reported not seeing any squirrels following a year – 2018 – when there was an over abundance. However, this year, you couldn’t prove it by me, based on literally being overrun by squirrels at our home in Waterville.

Let me try to explain.

In the fall of 2018, millions of squirrels met their demise on New England roadways. One year later, we look back at the why and the how.

In 2018, it was practically all we were hearing about in northern New England.

It was the Great Squirrel Apocalypse of 2018 — and, pardon the pun, it was nuts.

My personal experience that year was pretty much the same as elsewhere in Maine. It was the fall of 2018, September to be exact, and my wife and I drove from our camp in Vassalboro to the YMCA State Camp, in Winthrop, for the rehearsal of our granddaughter’s wedding. On the way, we counted 45 dead squirrels. Why so many road killed squirrels laying on the side or middle of the road?

Although a specific alignment of natural events led to this carnage, if you take a step back you’ll see it’s only part of a much larger story of boom and bust that continues to play out today.

What led to the great squirrel apocalypse?

Lots of different trees in the forest produce food (known as mast) for squirrels. Hard mast — such as acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, and walnuts — is the most important because it can keep for a long time. Squirrels and chipmunks are incredibly efficient at “squirreling away” caches of nuts in times of abundance to prepare for more meager seasons ahead.

The populations of these animals closely follow the abundance of hard mast. If trees produced roughly the same amount of nuts every year, the population of squirrels and chipmunks would rise to a level that could consume just about all of it, meaning there would be little left to actually produce new trees.

Every few years, all trees in a given species will produce an excess of flowers and pollen, and, if the conditions are right, they go on to produce an overwhelming amount of seeds and nuts — so many that the animals can’t even come close to eating all of it, and the mast can go on to germinate.

Acorns, beechnuts, and maple helicopters were all scarce in 2018. In 2016 and 2017, many species of trees in New England had rare back-to-back mast years. Because of that, squirrels and many other forest animals successfully raised multiple, large litters of offspring. Populations skyrocketed.

But 2018 was different.

Maple seeds never appeared in spring, beechnuts never appeared in summer, and acorns never appeared in fall. There were some hickory nuts, but not enough.

Panic set in.

All those hungry squirrels began ranging farther and farther in search of food. And if food was scarce on one side of the road, foraging on the other side is the obvious next step.

But when faced with an oncoming vehicle, squirrels tend to be terribly indecisive. Some may make it most of the way across before panicking and retreating, and while many are lucky enough to survive a car passing over them, many more do not.

I’m curious to know how many accidents were caused last year by well-intentioned drivers trying to dodge squirrels.

The failure of nearly every tree to produce mast in 2018 continues to have an impact. Hard mast feeds smaller animals, like squirrels and chipmunks, which in turn feed larger animals. Many of the latter populations were affected, although not all these animals saw their numbers decline.

The roadsides covered in carcasses were a feast for scavengers, which meant the great squirrel apocalypse was a boon to crows, ravens and turkey vultures. The abundance of ravens in particular seems most notable to me, as they’ve audibly changed my local landscape. We witnessed a marked increase in the number of crows at camp this past summer, accompanied by the ever-annoying call of the bird.

Birds of prey are another story, however. The high squirrel and chipmunk populations of the past few years led to a rise in their numbers. Barred owls – which, again, we saw and heard in greater numbers this past year – were everywhere this spring.

Larger animals with more diverse diets typically see longer lags before any changes in their population. The adults usually don’t starve when one key species declines, but the success in breeding and raising their young declines, which can slowly bring down the population.

Which brings us to today, and some good news.

All the major tree species in the New England forests had mast years in 2019. Maple helicopters were so heavy this past spring that the trees looked red instead of green well into spring. Acorns were falling heavily this past fall, and beech are ripening in their spiked husks.

The cycle continues, and nature will find balance.

Boom-and-bust population cycles are common in the natural world, and the crash of one species will often have ripple effects throughout the ecosystem.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What was the New York Jets original nickname when they entered the American Football League in 1960? Where did the Tennessee Titans originate when they entered the AFL in 1960?

Answer can be found here.

SOLON & BEYOND: Embden Historical Society in the news

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

The Solon Congregational Church will be having a Christmas Concert at 4 p.m., at the Solon Congregational Church on North Main Street, on Saturday, December 14. Entertainment will be Voices of Hope, all male quartet, and the Liberty String Band. Refreshments will be served, and admission is a donation at the door.

Received an e-mail from Carol Dolan about upcoming events of the Embden Historical Society, Inc. The committees for the 2020 year are as follows: Boston Post Cane: Larry Witham, Brainard Tripp and Emily Quint; Cemetery: Johnny Bigelow, Mitchell Quint, Bob Donovan, Patty Cobb, Billy Messer and Bob Berry. Genealogical, Emily Quint and Bob Donovan. Historical/scrapbook Team: Carol Reed and Emily Quint: Nominating: Two members to be appointed in July; two months before annual meeting. Set to rule over us: Carol Dolan; Historical Recordings: Emily Quint; Guest Book: Volunteer Refreshment Coordinator, Carol Dolan. Scholarship: Sara Donovan, Brainard Tripp, Mary Hatch and Jerry Sass. Town House and Grounds: Larry Witham, Bob Donovan, Jim Lightbody, Brainard Tripp, Ken Ingalls and Mitchell Quint. Lawn Care: Ken Ingalls and Recording Secretary and Year – In – Review: Mary Frear.

Meetings for the above is the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Embden Town House, unless otherwise stated. No regular meetings are held in December, January, February and March. Program is subject to change. Dues are payable in August for the upcoming year at the rate of $3 per person. Dues may be mailed any time to the Treasurer, Bob Donovan, 547 Dunbar Hill Road, Embden, Maine 04958. If a check, please make payable to Embden Historical Society. Any donations made, unless otherwise ear-marked will be placed in the Scholarship Fund, given annually.

Volunteerism provides for a strong group interested in preserving local history.

Lief and I attended the New Hope Church, in Solon, on South Main Street, on December 7, for the wonderful program put on by the Skowhegan Community Chorus and Voices of Hope Quartet Christmas Concert. There were many other people in attendance who enjoyed the event as well. According to the program, there are 35 members in this choir, and most of them, if not all took part to blend their voices for all of us who attended to enjoy!

There was also a quartet that sang six songs, made up of Kenneth Martin, director, Mark Cayouette, Craig Carl and Valmore Vigue.

A solo was sung by Deborah Perkins.

Refreshments and visiting after the program were enjoyed as well before everyone stepped out into the very cold weather that evening, but it was worth it!.

Lief and I had a wonderful time one day last week when we traveled to Portland and met with his son Dean, his granddaughter, Kristin, and his great-grand-daughter, Dryce, who all live in Georgia. They were staying with relatives in New Hampshire. We met them at the half way spot, after bad weather and sickness had held us apart. We don’t get to see them very often, and we all had a wonderful time!

The visiting cardinals are still with us, and the female is still trying to peck through the window glass to get in to see us. It makes me feel quite inhospitable and sad, but the only thing we can do is continue to put seeds in the little glass bird feeder that is stuck to the window where she lands. ( I appreciated your column on cardinals last week, thanks, Roland)

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled, Peace on Earth: Hear, O God, this holy season, hear my prayer for peace on all the earth; You came on earth to be our Brother- No other reason for Your birth. You came not as a conquering monarch To force allegiance from a slave – You came to win my love and service, As in a dim-lit cave. A little Child will surely lead us Where a conqueror must fail-E’en three rich kings on stately camels, Bowing, murmuring “Child, all hail.” And so my prayer-for peace I whisper To the God who made us all; Little Child, our God, our Brother, On this our earth let blessings fall. (words by Rev. Thomas Foy. )

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Critter Chatter returns: The history of the beginnings of the Wildlife Care Center

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by Jayne Winters

In light of Donald Cote’s recent recognition by the Natural Resources Council of Maine for his decades of wildlife rehab work, the Critter Chatter column is being brought back to readers! As the new writer for this venture, I thought a good place to start would be to talk to Don about how he and his late wife Carleen met and started the Wildlife Care Center.

Don met Carleen Sirois at the Dairy Joy, in Augusta, when they were teenagers. After seven years of dating, they married in 1960, and after first living in a trailer in Vassalboro, purchased land on Rte. 3 and built the home where Don lives today. He worked for Coca Cola and later, North Center Food Service; Carleen was employed by the Maine Department of Health & Human Services, in mental health and retardation. She retired in 1990 after almost 32 years of state service and Don followed in 1997. They did not have children, but I think they would admit to having fostered hundreds of fur and feather babies! Sadly, Carleen passed away on her 79th birthday, April 27, 2018.

So, how did they get involved with wildlife rehab? Interestingly, it began when Don read an article in a Sunday paper about a Cape Elizabeth couple who raised exotic waterfowl to sell. He contacted the breeders and over the next three years, obtained his federal and state permits, enlarged the pond on his property, built a shelter, erected fencing, and purchased birds from Cape Elizabeth and a breeder in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In addition to permits, Don had to submit annual reports to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIF&W), listing the number and breed of birds he raised and sold, as well as those that died. Although Carleen was never really interested in birds, they were Don’s passion and she helped him with the business.

Returning home one evening, the Cotes found a sick fawn in their driveway, left by a warden. Unfortunately, the fawn did not survive, but Carleen’s heart was touched. Don was about to retire and he was making plans to replace some of his older breeding birds with new ones. They couldn’t afford to continue with the waterfowl business and start wildlife rehab, so the decision was made to let the birds die off naturally and focus on critters. New permits were obtained, cages built, food, general medical supplies and equipment purchased.

The desire to help sick or injured wildlife is certainly commendable, but I asked Don how they learned the ins and outs of rehab. Obviously, they had gained considerable hands-on experience while raising the waterfowl, but he noted a lot of credit goes to the generosity and expertise of veterinarians with whom they’ve worked. Initially, Drs. Davis and Hersom at Pine Tree Clinic, in Augusta, provided medical care, but currently Drs. Darryl and Erika Praul and staff at the much closer Windsor Veterinary Clinic, “answer the call” for surgeries, internal injuries, etc. In addition to observing procedures, treatment applications, suturing, medication and injection administration, etc., Don stated the clinics often donate medical books for their reference and use at home. In addition, close contact with a variety of folks at DIF&W, wardens as well as biologists, is maintained.

Part II will look at a typical day at the Center, including travel, volunteers, expenses, and what it means to be a nonprofit.

Donald Cote operates the Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center on Rte. 3, in Vassalboro. It is a nonprofit federal and state permitted rehab facility which is supported by his own resources and outside donations. Mailing address: 1787 North Belfast Ave., Vassalboro ME 04989 TEL: (207) 445-4326 EMAIL: wildlifecarecenter@gmail.com.

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, December 12, 2019

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To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@fairpoint.net!

RESTFUL SPOT: Tina Richard, of Clinton, snapped this foliage photo during her walk, in Winslow. The view from there was “breath taking.”

FIRST MOOSE: Pat Clark, of Palermo, saw her first moose on a fall foliage trip this fall near Moxie Plantation.

PICTURESQUE: Jayne Winters, of South China, captured this picturesque spot on Back/Sheepscot River, in Boothbay, near Knickerkane Island.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Wandering Nanas using winter hacks

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by Debbie Walker

Do you remember my column on November 14 was about “Winter Hacks?” When I wrote that I might have been a little cocky because I am in Florida and avoiding your nasty, snowy cold winters. I should have known better than to be so brashy. It’s not good, it will come back to haunt me every time! We will get back to ‘weather’ in a little bit.

So… The Wandering Nanas (my friend, Nana Dee and myself, Nana Daffy) had been planning another trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania. We went up in June and were making a return trip to celebrate Dee’s Aunt Jean’s 95th birthday.

It is a beautiful trip going up to Walnut Creek, Ohio. You go through a section of the Smokey Mountains, what a view! Driving isn’t too bad in most cases, however, there are some aggravating road nit-wits. And then there are also some of Mother Nature’s critters who make driving tricky. We came so close to hitting a deer. We were aware that some of the deer, five to be exact, had gone to Deer Heaven that day on the side of the roads. We did not want to add to the list. A couple of nights later we met a deputy who wanted to forewarn us that the deer are in rutting season and are subject to some crazy, careless decisions.

Aunt Jean had a very nice birthday. She celebrated with her son, his wife, the Wandering Nanas and some of the residents of her assisted living center. She is looking forward to more birthdays! We plan to be at each one.

The next day we made our way to Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, without getting lost. The day after we got there it snowed! The next morning we had to do the snowy, icy, clean off the truck dance. I brought my snow brush and scraper, thank goodness. Now if you remember the ‘ Weather Hacks’ comments from the column on November 14, I spoke of the alcohol spray for the windshield and windows.’ I used it there and left it for Dee’s niece, Jackie, who had never heard of such. She liked the idea.

Just before we left, I missed a three-inch step. That’s right, I fell directly to the floor and I must admit to thinking I heard something crack. When I was able to stand on it I figured it was just a sprain. It wasn’t easy to walk but I could drive easily, and I drove us the two days back to Florida. The next morning I went to the doctor and was sent for X-rays. Oh yes, I had done it, and it was, indeed, broken, and would require surgery. Yuck!

Nana Dee in the meantime got hit with a sinus and ear infection but we made it back to Sunny Florida! It has been a bit chilly but nothing like Ohio or Pennsylvania. I dug out my Christmas sweaters this morning. I will start wearing them the day after Thanksgiving. I sincerely wish for you all had a wonderful day with family and friends.

I’m just curious what your favorite part of the meal is. Every family seems to have some special thing they do or cook, share your favorites with us please. Some of us might enjoy trying it for Christmas.