Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from halfway around the world.

I think back to my West Raleigh home when I was ten, and bounding out of bed to find a little beagle puppy asleep in a blanketed basket in front of the living room mantle where our stockings hung, mine full of tangerines and walnuts and candies and Dixie Classic tickets, a Paul Hornung autographed red football helmet with a single-bar face mask lying on the carpet.... the Christmassy scents of an adorned cedar tree and a warm crackling fireplace.....

Now this morning (so many miles away) I spoke with my daughter who lives in Portland, Oregon about a return trip to the states this spring......She, a graphic designer,  is married to an architect, both graduates from State's School of Design......My little three-year old grandson a projected first-rounder in the 2030 NBA draft :-)........

I miss Raleigh and look forward to my homecomings.....My travels take me to distant lands and vicarious escapes......I walked through the sludge of Guadalcanal in the Solomons a while back.....This June I plan to be on Omaha beach where my dad landed D-Day plus 60 back in '44.

Christmas holiday during Broughton days evokes pleasant memories of shopping at Cameron Village, pretty festive decorations, those lovely gumdrop trees, Ellisburg's, Crabtrees, Boyland-Pearce, J.C. Penny's, Sears, the Hobby Shop, Nowells, Ballantines, sweet fragrances, Christmas carols, and a chill in the air, seeing my Broughton friends bundled up hustling from store to store clutching shopping bags.....Holiday basketball games at Reynolds.....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

From Thailand

Dan(ny) :-)