Back from an all too brief Christmas visit. A lovely time was had by all. At least until the Ring Wing of the family arrived.
It's always amusing to see what seemingly innocuous topic will be twisted into Republican talking points, and this year it turned out to be the Civil War. Don't ask me why.
I'm not even sure how we got on the topic - I think my niece mentioned something about a term paper. But once it was introduced they were off and running. Silly me, I had assumed the subject had been settled over a hundred years ago. But being a Wingnut means never having to say you're sorry, or pass up an opportunity to rewrite history. My brother-in-law informed everyone it really had nothing to do with slavery but rather the issue of "state's rights". The South would have never seceded had the North not "invaded". That's why it was referred to as "The War Of Northern Aggression".
Why, yes, it had been referred to as that.
By the losers.
A century ago.
Is this what they're teaching at Glenn Beck U. these days?
Later on my sister and I delivered a small Christmas gift to the neighbors. They had recently helped my folks out after my mother had surgery and we wanted to express our thanks. When the neighbor opened the door, my sister's eyes lit up at what she saw inside...
Cases of Mona Vie.
Oh Lord. A Fellow Traveler on the Acai Berry Trail. They started speaking in tongues, Mona Vie style. There may have been a secret handshake, who knows. It's a cult, I tell you. I tuned it all out and when we headed back to my folks I could tell my sister was just itching to try and recruit me again. I cut her off at the knees. It was Christmas, for God's sake, give it a rest.
It was a very low key Christmas. Like us, my folks didn't really bother to decorate. There was no tree. In deference to our financial situation, there were no gifts since we weren't in a position to reciprocate. It dawned on me that once you strip Christmas of the trappings and tinsel and gifts, it's really nothing more than... Thanksgiving. Again.
And all too quickly the weekend was over. We feared a repeat of my almost 5 hour slog back at Thanksgiving, so we hit the road early and were shocked to be back in Bako 2 hours later. I think that qualifies as a Christmas Miracle. It's not much, but we'll take it.
