Rick and I wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy New Year. But I wish I were up North in snow country, with a fire in the fireplace and stockings hung from the mantel.
In spite of my prayers, it looks like we are going to have another snowless Christmas here in Key Largo. Blackwater Sound is still soft and warm, and people will be sailing here on Christmas. Doesn't seem right. (Rick does not share my views.)

The following was sent to us by e-mail from Mike Fahle. I don't know whether he wrote it, but it fits into the "older generation" category:

They have finally found a diagnosis for my condition. Hooray!! I have recently been diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.! Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it goes: I decide to wash the car. I start toward the garage and I notice the mail on the table. Ok, I'm going to wash the car, but first I'm going to go through the mail. I lay the car keys down on the desk, discard the junk mail and I notice the trash can is full. Ok, I'll just put the bills on my desk and take the trash can out. But since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway, I'll pay these few bills first. Now, where is my checkbook? Oops, there's only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk. Oh, there's the coke I was drinking. I'm going to look for those checks. But first I need to put my coke further away from the computer. Oh, maybe I'll pop it into the fridge to keep it cold for a while. I head towards the kitchen and my flowers catch my eye; they need some water. I set the coke on the counter and uh oh! There are my glasses. I was looking for them all morning! I'd better put them away first. I fill the container with water and head for the flower pots-Aaaaaagh! Someone left the TV remote in the kitchen. We'll never think to look in the kitchen tonight when we want to watch television so I'd better put it back in the family room where it belongs. I splash some water into the pots and onto the floor, I throw the remote onto a soft cushion on the sofa and I head back down the hall trying to figure out what it was I was going to do?

End of Day: The car isn't washed, the bills are unpaid, the coke is sitting on the kitchen counter, the flowers are half watered, the checkbook still only has one check in it and I can't seem to find my car keys! When I try to figure out how come nothing got done today, I'm baffled because I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY LONG!!! I realise this is a serious condition and I'll get help, BUT FIRST I think I'll check my e-mail...Please send this to everyone you know because I DON'T REMEMBER TO WHOM I'VE SENT THIS!!!

Time marches on.

We just got a Christmas card from a cat sailor, containing the following message:

Hobie makes it on Jeopardy!
tonight in the category of "Innovators," for $1,000, the answer is:
"Mr. Alter, who designed a type of catamaran or 'cat,' goes by this first name."
The question, of course, was, "Who is Hobie?"
Can you believe -- none of the contestants knew the question!