I always mean to have this newsletter done before Christmas but then I get busy with all those Christmas preparations. You know, barricading my door so carolers can’t get in; taking my phone off the hook so no one gets through with some cheery hohoho that makes me want to scream; sabotaging my mail box so that it automatically spits out anything that remotely resembles a card from some company that takes my money all year while providing minimal service yet thinks I want holiday greetings from them that my money paid for instead of service. Well, you get the idea. My Christmas newsletter just falls by that wayside at that point.
Things here in Anchorage are as good as ever. The temperature hovers around zero, it’s dark most of the day, the snow now climbs over the top of my boots and one of my dogs had diarrhea all over my living room carpet…three nights running. My African Gray parrot Abdul has plucked herself naked for the holiday and my Amazon parrot Captain now weighs so much that the vets are considering her for a Ripley’s Believe It or Not entry. I couldn’t be prouder of them. The other birds, Wilson, Baby, Kenya and CB have not been able to keep up with Abdul and Captain’s accomplishments so they get no mention this year. The slackards!
I continue to work hard for peanuts, all of which are eaten by the magpies on my porch. When not working for peanuts, I’m finding that my reputation as a writer makes it easier and easier to find work as a volunteer for which I am not paid at all. Which makes it easy every month when the bills come. If you have no money, then there is no wrestling with which bills to pay and which to put aside. They all just go into the merry fire in the fireplace that I now use instead of the furnace while waiting for heating costs to go down.
My dog Blue still has diabetes. My dog Blondie now has Addison’s disease. I’m proud to say that she got it all by herself with no help from anyone. And, if she lives through her expected lifespan, my emergency funeral costs money ought to just cover her monthly shots. How lucky am I that I started that savings account for my old age?
I did get to do some traveling this year. I’ve made it to East Anchorage on more than one occasion and have never been mugged so I don’t know why people talk about that section of town the way they do. I’ve also made it up Hillside here but couldn’t go much further due to the high cost of gas and the low tolerance of my old car. We are such a disposable society, aren’t we? Its only twelve years old and already wheezing with age. You’d think it could at least make it to fifteen before giving up its spark plugs.
And that’s about it from my house this year. I hope your year was as cheery and fruitful as mine. But please trust me when I say that you don’t need to send me a letter to tell me about it. I’ll just assume you all are having a good time or you’d be on my doorstep looking for a free place to stay.
Happy New Year.