Thursday, December 28, 2017
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Christmas Afternoon with Pat's Family
http://www.writerscafe.org/dkbarry2010/blogs/Christmas-Afternoon-with-Pat%27s-Family/137322/
Monday, December 25, 2017
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Friday, December 22, 2017
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
Holiday Pops at the Whiting
This is the 5th and final blog of the set. At least for now.
http://www.writerscafe.org/dkbarry2010/blogs/Holiday-Pops-at-the-Whiting/137050/
Christmas Tree
This is the 4th blog. Almost done.
http://www.writerscafe.org/dkbarry2010/blogs/Christmas-Tree/137049/
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Friday, December 8, 2017
Grand Republic Conference
Grand Republic Conference
A work of fiction, based on some true memories, but still fiction. :) Note: It's rated "teen," as there's mild violence and a little partial nudity.
A work of fiction, based on some true memories, but still fiction. :) Note: It's rated "teen," as there's mild violence and a little partial nudity.
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Monday, December 4, 2017
Sunday, December 3, 2017
First Christmas Party of the Year
I've just come home from a marvelous Christmas party with the Sashabaw
Plains Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), held
at Shepherd's Hollow Golf Club, in Clarkston. We have the same party
every year, and always at the same place.
The dining room of the club was elegantly dressed for Christmas, with greens, bows, lights, and a Christmas tree. Although I haven't seen it since 2014, when the DAR Christmas party was one of the last things I did before losing my sight, I've been assured that the Christmas tree was filled with tiny American flags (the ones on wooden sticks, which are often passed out by the hundred along parade routes, with flags perhaps 4x6 inches); In 2012, 2013, and 2014, it fell to me to put the flags in the tree, or to share the task with another member.
My cousin, Diane, went with me to the party, as she did last year. We both wore dressy, black sweaters, and I was afraid we were too grim for the joyous holiday, but another of the members seated at our table also wore a black sweater, and I felt better. I did add red jingle-bell earrings to my wardrobe, after I got home from Mass this afternoon; I promised my friend, Cindy, that she would see me with bells on, and I wanted to be sure to interpret that popular saying literally. Besides, it's fun to wear jingling bells, when the solemnity of the occasion doesn't proscribe them.
The menu included steak, prime riob, perch, chicken Marsala, gluten-free vegetarian lasagna, and a chef's salad. Diane and I each ordered the chicken, which came with asparagus and whipped potatoes. We ordered the same entree last year, and tralked of it often between ourselves during the year; we both knew what we wanted, even before we saw the menu. There were hot, crusty rolls with sweet, creamy butter, and lovely, fluffy garden side salads, and I had caramel cheesecake for dessert; Diane only had coffee, as I know I should have done.
The presentation was about the
The
party is hardly over, and I'm still wearing my jingle-bells, but I'm
already looking forward to gathering again next year, in the same room,
with the same friends, and, I hope, with new friends added during the
year. I hope we'll have with us those members who couldn't be with us
tonight; I hope not too many of our number will be permanently absent,
having gone to their final reward. We were missing one of our number
for that permanent cause tonight, since our friend, Frieda, was called
home this year. She was loved among us, and will be missed.
The dining room of the club was elegantly dressed for Christmas, with greens, bows, lights, and a Christmas tree. Although I haven't seen it since 2014, when the DAR Christmas party was one of the last things I did before losing my sight, I've been assured that the Christmas tree was filled with tiny American flags (the ones on wooden sticks, which are often passed out by the hundred along parade routes, with flags perhaps 4x6 inches); In 2012, 2013, and 2014, it fell to me to put the flags in the tree, or to share the task with another member.
My cousin, Diane, went with me to the party, as she did last year. We both wore dressy, black sweaters, and I was afraid we were too grim for the joyous holiday, but another of the members seated at our table also wore a black sweater, and I felt better. I did add red jingle-bell earrings to my wardrobe, after I got home from Mass this afternoon; I promised my friend, Cindy, that she would see me with bells on, and I wanted to be sure to interpret that popular saying literally. Besides, it's fun to wear jingling bells, when the solemnity of the occasion doesn't proscribe them.
The menu included steak, prime riob, perch, chicken Marsala, gluten-free vegetarian lasagna, and a chef's salad. Diane and I each ordered the chicken, which came with asparagus and whipped potatoes. We ordered the same entree last year, and tralked of it often between ourselves during the year; we both knew what we wanted, even before we saw the menu. There were hot, crusty rolls with sweet, creamy butter, and lovely, fluffy garden side salads, and I had caramel cheesecake for dessert; Diane only had coffee, as I know I should have done.
The presentation was about the
Defense POW/MIA
Accounting
Agency (DPAA) and the great-uncle of a member, whose missing plane was
found in Brazil in 1990, and recovered from the jungle in 1995. It was a
very interesting and moving account. The story of the process, from
discovering the aircraft to interring the bodies from the plane in a
communal grave at Arlington National Cemetery, because the individual
remains couldn't be identified. My friend, Deb, who gave the
presentation, was able to attend that interment of her lost relation.
She reminded us of the importance of letting the agency know about
family members who disappeared in military service, and whose remains
are unrecovered, so they can be sought and brought home.
As
dinner neared its end, the door prize tickets were drawn, and each
person went up to select a prize/Christmas gift from the table. I was
delighted to discover that two of this year's prizes were gift bags with
three of my books in each bag, although I wasn't told which of my
titles had been chosen. I don't know who got those bags, but I hope
they'll ask me to sign the books for them, and inscribe them as the
recipient desires. Diane went up with my ticket, and she selected a
lovely glass oil lamp for me; she got an adorable snowman decoration and
a gift card. At the end, every member and guest received a gift/prize
from the table, as Deb R. always ensures will happen.
A
group photo was taken, with all the members who were present. Cindy
usually takes the pictures, meaning she isn't in them, but Diane is an
experienced photographer, and she agreed to take the picture, so Cindy
could be in it, with the rest of the members. After the groupo photo,
we took the "Debs" picture, as we do at every major event. Our chapter
has five members named Deb, and it's a huge joke among us that there are
so many Debs; when I joined, I became the fifth Deb. There were
various other pictures taken of small groups, as we sat at the tables.
When the pictures are distributed, I'll certainly post them.
Saturday, December 2, 2017
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