What????

[Marlene Anne Sassaman]

Wow, what a holiday this has been. Can't believe it has been about 18 days since my last post. Christmas Eve was designed to be a simple solo evening on the boat where I planned to revive my 62 1/2 year old Teddy Bear. Poor Teddy, he has lost most of his furr, the bell in his ear is hanging out and lost its jingle and his belly is split open. I don't know what they stuffed him with back in 1948 but it's good stiff material so his internal organs are in great shape. Its been so long, probably 58 years or so since he had eyes. In fact, I've tried about 50 different buttons, those rolly googly eyes, and even some plain brown glue ons. They all make him look weird, kind of spooky, so I think he will stay blind for a while.

Anyway, back to the story of Christmas. Before heading to SPRAY I stopped by my good friend Maryanne to wish her and her family good tidings. Then, it was one more stop at a neighbor's house to peek at her young boys all nestled in. About a block before reaching her house there appeared a white fluffy puppy in the middle of the lane. Oh dear, ladies, you better pause and get some tissues out. Apparently he/she had been hit by a car and was sitting in shock. Despite my best efforts she died a block before we arrived at the all night animal hospital. Her owner finally contacted me, via a police report I filed.

With spirits dampened I went home to sleep. Christmas Day was a joyous one I'll always remember. It started when I took my 94 year old sailing designer friend to breakfast. The only place open was a very busy Perkins. Normally I would never eat there. But gorging on eggs, bacon, potatoes and even a perfectly browned pancake made for a good time. Then, it was off to the woods at the northern end of Cocoa where my farming friend always has a warm touch to her home. Even in the hot Florida sunshine her two story cabin like house makes you feel like you are in the Canadian Rockies.

So much for Christmas but New Years was even better. Friday and Saturday I had an expert boat builder/friend volunteer to tear out that propane stove and help me seed the solar panel stanchions. Albeit the work was simple enough for me to do it alone,   but having company makes the time whiz along as we resurrected sailing stories from long ago. There was more fun on New Year's Day when four teams from the local yacht club caught 2 - 5 knot zephrs as we raced 420s around the bouys. Except for the lead team that took a bullet in each race the rest of us tied for 2nd.

Now, it is Monday and I better get dressed as I'm meeting a friend at Starbuck's where we will start our week with a beach walk before the freeze slithers down the state. Cheers to all, and to all a good year!

[Drew]

You made me think about a little stuffed elephant I still have of about the the same vintage and condition.