Thank you, Alan Rickman

I have often threatened my coworkers that we will make our client's deadlines, even if there's bruising or loss of blood, even if I have to call off Christmas.

This is not an original thought. No one has ever busted me, though, for stealing it from the inimitable Alan Rickman in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. If they haven't seen this film, it's their loss. For he managed to be a luminous villain in a completely average movie.



He was also Hans Gruber in Die Hard. I've seen that movie dozens of times, and always feel a little twinge of sadness when he falls to his death. Bruce Willis' John McClane is a hero that stays with us because he had such a charismatic, formidable foe.

So I'm going to miss Alan Rickman, and I'm grateful for the time I've spent watching his work.

My kingdom for a burger

My gastrointestinal tract is still rebelling. Which sucks. Every day I wake up and think, "This will be the day everything is fine!" And for more than two weeks, I've been disappointed.

I've been subsisting on poultry, crackers, soup, and rice. Oh, how I want beef! A nice, juicy burger with lettuce and cheese and thin-sliced pickles and lots of ketchup. Or a slice of deep dish pizza, gooey and cheesey. I want to wash it down with a chilled vodka and cran. But most of all, I really want a burger.

In the meantime, I'm going back to the doctor's office tomorrow. Not for a checkup, but to get the kit required to submit a stool sample. I'm disgusted by this. I'm sick of this. I want this to be done. Hopefully the lab will find discover something from my stool that was absent in my blood, and that's something that can be treated by an antibiotic.

Being sick is good for my budget

I've been eating a lot of soup lately. Mostly chicken noodle, occasionally chicken rice. (Never tomato; I hate tomato.) Always with Club Crackers. It's been my dinner of choice for almost a week now. Boring, to be sure. But very economical!

With this illness my food expenditures have certainly shrunk. Instead of my big,  Saturday morning coffee shop breakfast of Eggs Benedict or bacon and eggs, I had a spare, Sunday Belgium waffle brunch, no meat, which naturally cost less. I slipped away to the movies Sunday afternoon and had no sweets, not even Twizzlers.

I think I'm on my way back to healthy, but then I've thought that before so I have to take it slow. Over the last three weeks I've learned how important food is to me. My friend John is already worried that I won't be able to drink at this weekend's Cubs Convention. Naturally I'd like to have a beer (and, as the song says, peanuts and Cracker Jack), but not at the expense of my fragile gut.

I want to be better. I'm so tired of this. I really want to be better!

Sunday Stealing

Why Do You Want To Know That Meme, part three

50. What do you spend most of your money on? I spend too much on crap I don't really need. But I can honestly say that the biggest single bill I pay each month is my mortgage/assessment, and my housing costs are very reasonable for my budget.

51. Would you rather visit the past or the future? The past. I know I romanticize it would probably be disappointed, but I'd like to give it a try. (If I could come back if I wanted to.)

52. Favorite clothing store? Carson's. (It might be Bergner's or Yonker's in your neighborhood.)

53. What is the best advice you can give to those who are feeling down? This, too, shall pass.

54. How often do you think about your future? Does it scare you? I worry about getting old and sick. I watched my mom and my uncle go from healthy one day to very sick the next. OK, it wasn't that fast but it was fast.

55. What angers you the most? Bullies

56. When was the last time you got majorly angry? I wasn't happy at work on Friday. We have a new employee (not so new anymore; she started in the spring) and no one is training her and I have to clean up her mess.

57. When was the last time you got really sad? When I realized I was sick on vacation. No fair!

58. Are you good at lying? Surprisingly so

59. What foreign language would you like to learn? Spanish. Usted es un narcisista arrogante, el Sr. Trump. 

60. How many languages can you speak and what are they? Just English

61. How often do you go to parties? If you don’t, what do you do instead? Haven't been to a party, or even had a drink, all year. Instead I read, watch TV and fart around on the internet.

62. What books do you plan to read this year? White Collar Girl, by Renee Rosen. Sinatra: The Chairman by James Kaplan.

63. Do you have breakfast every morning? Usually I have something. Slim Fast or maybe some cereal. But I've been having tummy trouble lately.

64. Tell us a secret. "The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it. There ain't nothing to it."





65. How many concerts have you been to? Between 25 and 30.

66. Last hug? Amanda. She was suddenly transferred off our account and moved to another -- and, I suspect, toward the door, but I didn't want to tell her that.

67. Who knows you better than anyone else? Nobody knows all of me very well. Different people get different parts.

68. Baths or showers? Yes. Shower most mornings. Bath if I'm going to shave my legs or apply a mud mask.

69. Do you think you’re ambitious? Not anymore.

70. What song is stuck in your head? "Saturday Night Is the Loneliest Night of the Week." It's being played by the band in the background of this Fred Astaire movie I'm kinda watching. It took me a moment to recognize it, but now that I have it's burrowing into my head.

71. Countries you’ve visited? Canada, France, Switzerland (my favorite), Germany, Lichtenstein.

72. What do you most value in your friends? That they take me as they find me.

73. What helps you to sleep better? As I recall, romance used to help.

74. What is the most money you have ever held in your hand? A little over $7000. I had closed my account at Citibank and they were actually going to charge me for receiving my own money by check. This struck me as monstrously unfair, so I took it in cash. I was very nervous as I carried it up the street to Chase.

75. What makes you nervous? Carrying $7,000 cash.

Baby's First Uber Ride

I had a little tummy trouble (again!) and missed my traditional Saturday morning coffee shop breakfast. By the time I did a little grocery shopping and had my annual mammogram, the snow had begun falling in big, wet flakes. I just couldn't see hauling those bags of clothes to Goodwill on the bus. They'd be hard to handle and the clothes would get all wet.

And so I tried Uber. We have a good local cab company here, but there are places in the city where you can't just raise your arm and hail a cab. And so I downloaded the Uber app. Today was my initial run.

It was fine. It took 15 minutes for the car to get here, but it would have taken that long for a cab to arrive in the snow, too. It was nice to not have to deal with cash or a tip.

But I think that, for normal rides to and fro, I'll stick with the bus company or the local cab company. I like to support union labor.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Five O'Clock World

1. Think back to Friday. Did it fly by? Or did you find yourself checking the clock and wishing it was 5:00? This whole workweek went achingly slowly. It was my first week back after two weeks off, so I suppose that was to be expected.

 2. This song refers to the 5:00 whistle that signifies the end of the work day. What's the last whistle, alarm or buzzer you heard? On the train. There's a "beep-beep" noise and a recorded voice says, "The doors are about to close."

3. In the 1960s, the Vogues often appeared on TV variety shows to promote their record albums. Do you have the TV on now, as you answer these questions? Yes. It's a PBS documentary about scientists working on isolating some particle. I don't know shit about protons and supersymmetry, and I don't understand what they're looking for. But I enjoy their enthusiasm and teamwork. It's inspiring.

4. "Vogue" means "popular or fashionable." Tell us about something

I blame him

that you feel is in vogue today. Being politically incorrect. People say things aloud with a childish insouciance that they would have/should have felt guilty for even thinking a year ago. For example, right after Christmas I flew home from the Key West airport. It's got just one, tiny terminal and consequently no TSA Pre-Check row. As we were all putting our shoes and belts back on, this grown man said, very conversationally as though it was acceptable, "All this because of those damn towel heads." I've also heard adults dismiss people/things as "retarded." This is an unfortunate, ugly trend that I hope falls by the wayside, fast. Words can hurt, and this trend is making the world a more hostile, more painful place.

5. Vogue magazine reported that the big Fall/Winter trend was brocade. Describe the latest addition to your Fall/Winter wardrobe. I just bought these little Steve Madden boots, but mine are black. We've had a very mild winter so far, but I don't trust that our luck will hold and I want to be waterproof and ready.

6. Vogue editor Anna Wintour is such a difficult boss that disgruntled employees nicknamed her "Nuclear Wintour." What qualities do you think make a good boss? A willingness to walk a mile in his/her employees' shoes (or Steve Madden boots). The better a supervisor truly understands what the staff does and faces, the better the communication. And the better the communication, the better the relationship and the better the final work product.

7. Ms. Wintour was rumored to be the inspiration for the character of Amanda in the book and movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Did you receive any books or movies for Christmas 2015? Did you receive any gift cards that you then used for books or movies? I got this charmingly silly little book from my friend Kathleen. She tells me her husband picked it out for me, because this is where every one of my conversations invariably goes.

8. "Vogue" was also a dance, made famous by Madonna in her 1990 hit by the same name. Can you name another Madonna song?  "Take a Bow." It's a subtle and sophisticated break up song and she actually sings it quite well. I'm surprised by how much I like it, because Madonna has been making my skin crawl for decades now.

9. Random question from a Sat9-er: How organized are your clean clothes? (Stacked in piles, folded neatly in drawers, still in the dryer....?)   I love this question because it actually makes me sound neat and organized! As soon as my laundry is done, it gets folded and put away.

Still

This tummy distress is getting old.

I'm still bloated. My er, um, "output" is still unreliable -- nothing for days and then a strange combination of constipation/diarrhea. My appetite is erratic, as well.

But my energy is good. I'm no longer weak. I have no fever. I don't worry about urgency when I need to use the bathroom.

I just worry that this is the new normal. I lived like this for months at a time when I was in high school. At the time, I was diagnosed as having "colitis." I believe it was probably IBS. I would hate to return to those bad old days.

And they're going to be sleeping outside!

The next few days will be very wet, followed by a weekend that will be very cold. I have a pair of everyday flat-heeled boots that I've worn to a nub and am worried that they won't be waterproof enough to carry me through. So I went to DSW and dropped about $60 on a pair of completely serviceable Madden Girl Ruxbens.

On the way over, I came upon a young, fresh-faced young homeless man holding a very large, white tomcat. The cat was looking bored, completely oblivious to all the cars and foot traffic that comes with State Street at lunchtime. I put $2 in the man's cup and then tried not to think about them any more.

I am aware that homelessness is a major, oncoming problem that I can't fix alone. I understand that for every fresh-faced young homeless person I help, I will pass half a dozen more homeless people before I reach my destination.

But here's the thing: I know cats. And for that cat to be so comfortable in this kid's arms, even amidst all the hubbub, he has to be a good egg. So it's haunting me to think of those two, man and cat, outside in the wet and cold this weekend.

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW.WEDNESDAY is back! To participate, and to see how others responded, click here.

1. What are you currently reading? Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins. It's one of the more recent Spenser mysteries, so obviously it can't be written by the late Robert B. Parker. But Atkins is so good at writing in Parker's style that I feel like I'm still hanging around with the cast I've come to care for (Hawk, Z, Pearl and even Susan). Like Parker, he writes so affectionately about Spenser's Boston that I long to go back. I'm so happy to be with my old friends again that the plot almost doesn't matter. But it is pretty engaging so far. A football star's son has been kidnapped, and Spenser is working hard to get the youngster returned safely.

2. What did you recently finish reading? Brief Encounters by Dick Cavett. A series of essays and a collection of Cavett's NY Times columns. By turns entertaining (when talking about his career), poignant (reminiscing about his boyhood), and tiresome (yeah, yeah, yeah, so you went to Yale), it was a quick read. One thing I especially appreciated about it was the head-scratching amazement that Sarah Palin ever mattered. Well, I feel the same about Trump today. Hopefully someday soon he'll be just as irrelevant as the Alaskaradashian matriarch.

3.  What will you read next? Not sure

Damn near killed me!

Monday was my first day back to work and I stuck to the bland diet suggested by my doctor. One of the items on it, one of the few hadn't yet tried, was baked potato.

UH-OH!

Within two hours I was so sick. Sicker than I've been since the bug first hit. And at work, which is always especially embarrassing. I managed to compose myself -- without, I hope, anyone realizing what was amiss -- finish the day and get myself home. Where I promptly fell fast, fast asleep.

Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling all headachey and still weak. And there was something else, hard to describe. My gastrointestinal region just kept making itself known to me. It was twingey, I guess. Nervous about being on the train when the violent urge struck again, I went back to bed for a few hours, waiting until noontime to go in to make sure I was fine.

It occurred to me that the twingey feeling might actually be hunger -- eating has become so fraught with danger that I've almost forgotten hunger. So I had two bowls of Rice Krispies (no milk, doctor's orders) and went in. I was fine!

I had a grilled salmon filet for dinner -- plain, with nothing on the side -- and so far this morning, all is well. I've haven't had any, er, um, "solid evidence" that I'm OK, but I remain devoutly hopeful. I'd really like to be back to normal. I optimistically think that by this time tomorrow (Thursday), the only remnant of my illness is the snafu with the doctor's bill.

Bleh!

My tummy still isn't right. I'm headachey. A cold is beginning to kick in. If Downton Abbey wasn't about to come on, I'd curl up and take a nap right now.

The cruel thing is, tomorrow I have to go back to work. I DON'T FEEL GOOD!

I did something!

Of all my messy rooms, my den is the messiest. And unfortunately, I knew that my birth certificate was somewhere in there. I need that document because soon IL drivers' licenses won't be accepted by the TSA, and I'll need a passport just to fly from here to ... wherever I fly next. (Los Angeles? Williamsburg? Memphis? Boston? Atlanta?)

I found it. Yea!

Even better, while in there, I went through the closet. I'm parting with a lot of clothes. Most are going to Goodwill. I've set aside the better pieces for consignment. The middling pieces and the pieces that are for spring/summer are going to my sister and niece. I'm very proud of myself.

I was also happy to take stock of all the sweaters I never wore last year. The pullover I impulsively bought at Old Navy just before Christmas looks to be the only new addition to my wardrobe this winter, but it's the only thing I think I need.

Unfortunately, the room is still a hideous mess. I'll fill a bag of trash before I go to bed tonight. It'll barely make a dent. But I know I've done something and that knowledge makes me feel better.

Sunday Stealing

A nice, short little meme to start 2016.

This Year: 

A bad habit I'm going to break: Hmmm ... Nothing comes to mind. Not that I don't have any bad habits. I just haven't resolved to break any.

A new skill I'd like to learn: Maybe to be more tech savvy. I feel like the world is getting away from me in that regard.

A person I'd like to be more like: As always, my all-time idol, JBKO. She walked her own path and never explained, she never complained and somehow made a very painful life look effortless and graceful. She made strength look feminine. Hell yes, I aspire to be more like her.

A good deed I'm going to do: I'm going to find a good book or maybe some articles about Sen. Gene McCarthy for my nephew. He's a sophomore and so into Bernie Sanders. He's acing his history class, but his high school curriculum is all about ancient history. I think he would be fascinated by the parallels between 1968 and 2016, especially McCarthy and his unexpected army of young supporters. Encouraging his interest and faith in government is my good deed.

A place I'd like to visit: There are so many places I'd like to revisit: Colonial Williamsburg, Memphis, Boston ... If I'm not roped into another trip to Los Angeles this spring, I'm going to hit one of those destinations.

A book I'd like to read: Sinatra: The Chairman. It's the second part of the epic biography by James Kaplan. I loved volume one and gave myself this 992 page tome for Christmas this year. Can't wait to dive into it.

A letter I'm going to write: Let's emphasize the word "write." I'm going to do better about handwriting my correspondence. My cousin Rose has mentioned that I'm the only one who ever, ever writes to her and that receiving my letters means a lot to her. I could actually write to my friend in the Keys, too. My niece gave me notecards for Christmas, and I'm going to put them to good use.

A new food I'd like to try: I had macaroni and cheese with lobster last week and loved it. So now I am longing to try more and different seafood/pasta combos.

I'm going to do better at: Organizing my life! Sometimes I think I'm the most scattered woman on the face of the planet.

Getting ready for goodbye

 PBS Prime has been running Downton Abbey again from the beginning, and I've been watching, transfixed. It's the run-up to tomorrow's final season premiere. Sniffle, sniffle. I'm sad to see the Crawley saga come to an end.

It's been another day wasted, though. I went out for breakfast and tried eating a real meal. (So far, so good.) Then I watched some Downton, took a nap, did laundry, watched more Downton ... I believe I'd feel better about my life if I did something to clean this place up. And commiserating with Lady Mary isn't helping me accomplish that.

Saturday 9

Sleigh Ride

1) Have you ever ridden in a sleigh? No. We have a horse drawn carriage here in my neighborhood early every December to inaugurate the Christmas season (OK, it's probably to drum up holiday sales for the local businesses) and I always mean to take a ride in that. But ... As we Cub fans like to say, "Maybe next year."

Don't judge me

2) This recording is from Harry Connick Jr's best-selling CD, When My Heart Finds Christmas. This year, did you add any new holiday songs to your personal collection? No. I recently realized that I never got around to adding the Michael Buble Christmas CD to my playlist, and I bought it in 2013. So no new music for this gal until I organize what I've got.

3) Harry was born and raised in New Orleans, a city that seldom sees snow. Have you had enough snow to shovel so far this winter? Yes. Twice this week. The first was Monday, and it came down fast in sheets of slush. I like snow and cold, but this was too much even for me. Then on Wednesday morning, Mother Nature redeemed herself with big, white fluffy flakes.

4) Speaking of weather, Harry hosted a mini-series on The Weather Channel called 100 Biggest Weather Moments. Do you frequently check The Weather Channel? Not that often. I only care about the weather right here, and right now. They always seem to be talking about stuff like the upcoming impact of El Nino on the Bahamas later in the week.

5) Harry's mother was a very impressive woman -- a lawyer, judge and Louisiana Supreme Court justice. Tell us about someone in your family of whom you're very proud. My late uncle built an orphanage in Viet Nam. What began as a local family sheltering homeless kids in their house ended up looking like a school, with a classroom and a room of bunkbeds. It bothered him that so many of the children had been fathered, and abandoned, by American servicemen, so he did something about it. (In between trips to the jungle where he was shot at.) 

It's a long story, but he was drafted illegally back in 1964. Yet he went, did his duty and then some. Early in the 2000s, Parkinson's Disease robbed him of his independence. Since it was likely exacerbated by exposure to Agent Orange in Nam, it would have been nice if the VA had been of more (ANY!) help. I'll always be very angry by how he was treated. 

There are a couple of die hard Obama haters who play Saturday 9 every week and it might interest them to know that it was the George W. Bush era VA that let my uncle down. So please stop acting like these issues began with Iraq/Afghanistan and Obama. I have an ache in my heart that knows better. It's an institutional, systemic problem and our veterans deserve better than crazy partisan gridlock.

 6)  Happy New Year! Now that Christmas is over, are you done with holiday music and decorations? Or are you sad to see the holidays end? I'm sad to see it end.

7) The New Year's Eve fireworks celebration in Sydney, Australia is famous for coordinating pyrotechnics and music. Have you ever welcomed the New Year in another country? No. This year I didn't even welcome it here. I've had terrible tummy trouble all week and I didn't trust myself to not drink or overindulge at midnight.

8) Do you have any New Year's Resolutions for 2016? Not officially. I did such a bad job on last year's that now I feel bad ... and it's hard to get motivated when you feel like a failure. So I'm going to try to just face forward and do better in 2016.

The times of my life

9) Looking back on 2015, what surprised you? All the office drama! The departure of the Chocolate-Covered Spider, Long Tall Sally's short and tumultuous reign, my showdown with Christine the Mole, The Big Project ... Don't let anyone ever tell you that Mad Men wasn't realistic. Folks, to me it looked like a documentary series.

Is 2016 "Next Year?"

Maybe after this year, we'll be able to quit saying, "Maybe next year."

Welcome 2016!

This morning I'm channeling the spirit of a patriotic Marilyn as she wished Happy New Year to the Marines during the Korean War.

Thank God it went well!

This year, for the first time, Chicago put on an outdoor, New Year's Eve event. At midnight, a giant star rose 36 stories, up the side of the Hyatt, so it could be seen from both The River and The Lake. Leading up to midnight, the group Chicago (natch) sang "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" (natch). Then, after the star ascended, recordings of "Sweet Home, Chicago" and "Chelsea Dagger" and "My Kind of Town" were played. (Yoo hoo, New York, Frank sang about us first.)

2015 really sucked in Chicago. We needed something to go well. Looks like this did. YEA!

Eating crackers, drinking soda

That's how I'm ringing in the New Year. I think my stomach is almost well, but I didn't want to risk it, so I put on my pajamas at about 7:00 and settled in.

To be honest, I'm not that crazy about New Year's Eve and I'm not certain I'd be doing anything more thrilling even if my tummy was sturdy as cast iron.

Looking back on 2015, I'm not crazy about my life. It's not something that obsesses me, but the thing about New Year's is it encourages reflection.

•  The clutter around my house still controls me, and that's not good.

•  I still completely lack discipline. Instead of scrubbing a floor or divesting myself of shit I don't need, I spent the evening "helping" Sam Winters compose special occasion Saturday 9 memes for 2016. 

•  My oldest friend is not being especially nice to me. Just got my Christmas present from her today (a week late) and even though we exchanged emails today she has yet to ask me how my bloodwork/liver test came back. (She did, however, tell me that it hurts to sleep in her bra. Glad we have our priorities straight.) I know she is overwhelmed with her own shit right now, and she is who she is and I can't change her. I accept all that and, of course, I still love her. But I'm no saint, and it pisses me off that I mean so little to her, and that I can't depend on her.

There's a lot that's good, though, too.

•  First of all, everything I listed above that's bothering me is within my control to fix. I can clean my house (other people do it every day!) and only I can adjust my attitude toward my oldest friend. So that's good.

•  I am proud of The Big Project. Because of all the vacation time I'd stockpiled, I really worked very little in November and December and that gave me perspective. I accomplished a great deal without much help. It's not a glamorous initiative, but if it goes as projected, it will make my client a lot of money ... and that is the point of my job. So good for me!

•  John, the guys in the Keys, Kathleen, Mindy, Kathy, my aunt, my cousin ... maybe instead of fixating on how distant and erratic my best friend is, I should spend more time remembering and enjoying the people who do love me and are there.

•  The blogging community is cool and supportive, too. If you're reading this, I appreciate you. And Kwizgiver, Snarkypants and Endomental, especially, I'm grateful for how supportive you ladies always are.

•  Joey is curled up next to me as I post this. He's fine. We brought 2016 in together, just like the vet said we would. That's a gift.

So welcome, 2016! Let's see to it that by this time next year, my bathroom remodel is finally done!

Celebrating at home

So there were three final Christmas celebrations of 2015 ...

La familia. December 27 at my sister's house. A little awkward, as it always is when it involves us sibs. But it was lovely to be around my niece and nephew, and my niece's new fella. She's so happy with him! And my nephew is so idealistically and passionately into Bernie Sanders. In these crazy, Trump-dominated days, it's refreshing to talk to a young person so optimistic about both the system and the future. Unfortunately, my sister had made a very spicy pasta dish which was the catalyst for the final gut busting incident that sent me to the doctor on Monday.

The old gang. On Tuesday evening, Mindy, her hubs, John and I met at Miller's Pub again this year. Fortunately they serve breakfast all day/any time and I was able to have some nice, bland eggs. The gift exchange was fun, and it was neat to catch up. It's funny what happens when we get together -- I end up talking to her husband, she concentrates on John. With each passing year, more and more people seem to treat John and me as a couple, and we're sort of slipping into the pattern, as well. Just call us Will and Grace.

Girl talk. Then on the 30th I met up with Kathleen at a nice little local diner. We had a wonderful time. She enjoyed her gifts -- an ornament depicting her and husband and a signed copy of Jimmy Carter's memoir -- and I got a kick out of mine. She somehow actually found Beatles nesting dolls, imported from Russia! And again, I was able to coddle my tummy with chicken (chicken soup and chicken breast).

OH, HOW I HOPE I'M ON THE MEND! I had thought this would be the Christmas dominated by my worries about my dear old cat, Joey. He has, gratefully, turned out to be a very merry and mellow chap this season. Instead, it's been all about my gut.

Christmas Dinner

We went to The Harbourview Cafe, one of the restaurants at the posh Pier House Resort and Spa. To get to the dining area, we passed a sweet little pond of fish and turtles. I enjoyed seeing them immensely and consider them our dining companions.

I had lobster macaroni and cheese and little crab sandwiches. The food was delicious and the views were awesome.

My friends shared some important news with me: after 25 years together, they have decided to marry! (Of course, until this year they'd been denied the right to marry.) And this year, after all the health problems and money trouble, they are still going strong. After dinner I impulsively rolled up my jeans and ran into the Atlantic. It was a lovely Christmas.

Beachy Days

Key West is very proud of being the Southernmost city in the continental United States, closer to Cuba than to Miami. This concrete buoy marks the Southernmost spot, and it is decorated each year for Christmas. The tree topper is a rooster. It's common to see hens and roosters wandering freely around the island, brought here by Cuban refugees decades ago -- or hundreds of years ago, depending on whose account you're listening to. Some locals (aka "conchs") feel the roosters are a health hazard. But they seem to appeal to tourists, and so they are remain and are celebrated, like on this tree.

This part of the island is popular with tourists, like me, from up north. And for us northerners, Christmas means snow. As I walked the beach,  I was delighted to see how some wee ones expressed this.

I also took morning swims in the hotel pool and soaked a moment in the jacuzzi. Met a friendly couple from Boston and chatting with them made me want to go back there someday soon. (Of course, I also want to go back to Williamsburg ... and Memphis ... and Atlanta ...)

Naturally I spent a lot of time catching up with my friends. I thought things were going better for them. At least, I hoped they were. But they aren't.

One of them works 7 days a week -- five as a bookkeeper, two tending bar. The other works 6 days a week -- five as a production artist at the newspaper, one at a bookstore. Yet they are down to one car because it would cost too much to repair their old Chevy Tracker. Their home was uncomfortable because the air conditioning is out. The neighbors are complaining about one of their trees and so a landscaper has to come out. They have nothing set aside for retirement. No matter how hard these men work -- and they work very hard -- there is just never enough money. They probably should leave Key West, even though they are happy there and have put down deep roots, because the economic possibilities are so limited. But they are underwater on their home and it will be hard to sell. If they let it go into foreclosure, it will be hard for them to get a new start somewhere else.

They are good people. I wish their lives were easier.