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Praetorium Honoris

Friday, December 22, 2023

On the Road Again

Midnight High Mass on Christmas Eve in the chapel at the 410th Bomb Group base in France.
Date: December 24th, 1944 Photo ID: 342-FH-3A-17906-73015AC 
(Source)
On the road today, heading down to Maryland to spend Christmas with The Nuke and her tribe. I rather wish the entire clan could gather on the 25th, but with everyone spread hither and yon, that takes some doing.

I don't really recall the year when last the bairns, their spouses, and their kids were all in the same house for Christmas. I do remember it was our house and there were only two grandchildren. That tells me that it was sometime after 2010.

We tend to head down to Maryland at this time of year more often than not, every year since 2018, that's for sure. (Not sure if we went down there in 2019, I think we did, and though we went down there at this time of year last year, it was after Christmas for The Nuke's birthday which falls on New Year's Eve.) If we're not there we head up to New Hampshire to my Mom's house.

I think The Missus Herself and I have stayed home, by ourselves, only once or twice since the kids all grew up and moved out. We always had one or more cats in residence as well. This year will be strange, our first without a feline presence in thirty years. I don't like it but I'm getting used to it.

I like a full house for Christmas, one of the best was when The Nuke's canines were in attendance, my granddogs Bear and Kodi¹, along with our feline staff Sasha and Anya.² I remember well when Anya ventured downstairs, for one reason or another, and took cover beneath the Christmas tree. She did not go unnoticed by Bear.

Now Bear is a big friendly shepherd-chow mix and she really wanted to make Anya's acquaintance. So she stuck her nose under the tree. Whereupon Anya greeted her with a carefully delivered blow to the nose, claws out just enough to get Bear's attention. Which she did.

Bear went yelping to the kitchen to report the affront to her canine dignity, Anya retreated upstairs to the feline Fortress of Solitude to report that invaders were present within the Homeland. 

We tried to keep them separate the remainder of the visit.


Don't expect a lot of posting over the holidays, I'm going to try and stay in the game, but I have grandkids and granddogs to entertain (and be entertained by) and I willingly devote lots of time to them.

I expect it will be fun, I expect it will be magical, and, in short, I expect it will be the kind of Christmas that I love. Time spent with family is never wasted.

John Blackshoe will be up on Christmas Eve, not sure if Juvat wants to post on Christmas Day which is, after all, a Monday, a Juvat Day, if you will. But he too has friends and family and he too will be celebrating with family, so I won't hold him to posting on that day. (I suppose he'll want the entire day off, but I expect him to be in all the earlier on Boxing Day. Just kidding, Juvat, call off the air strike. Please.)

Anyhoo, I'll make sure we have something up for Christmas (JB gave me a little something to post if needed, short, very Navy, but very nice. If you don't see it Christmas Day, I'll put it up on Boxing Day, or the Second Day of Christmas as they call it in Deutschland.)

Be seeing you, wish me a good trip. We're driving as I like the drive, also I'm getting older and don't know how much longer I'll be able to make that drive. Father Time keeps pointing out that I'm an old f**t now, feeling the years I am. Not really a lot of years (70), but a few bad roads driven in my time, not all of it has been "highway miles," if'n you know what I mean.

Tschuss³, and enjoy the holidays.





¹ Which is short for Kodiak Bear, not her full name, as I gather, but she chose Kodi based on that. The Nuke always added "bear" to the names of our cats, so when she grew up and got a dog, of course she named her Bear. Kodi followed a year or so later.
² Who The Nuke, of course, called "Sasha Bear" and "An-Bear."
³ Bye, auf Deutsch.

24 comments:

  1. Chris, I am here to admit that I was wrong about something, and you were very much right. Of the 11 cats I owned on my own, ten were toms, and Thomasina was a very crabby cat, so I have always been very biased towards toms. But since I moved into the ranch on 1 October, Warrior Princess; Love Bug; Miracle Cat; Cupcake, and P. Peaches Pussycat-Evenrude ( she sounds like an outboard when she is purring ) have shown me just how wrong I was. You were right, females are to be esteemed and loved. At least I sure love my girls. Not that I don't love Warrior Princesses brothers from the same litter, Stitch and George. Thank you for showing me the light, even if I didn't notice it at first. Merry Christmas, to you and your wonderful family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Female cats are different, but are just as loving.

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    2. It was a month ago I went down to the humane society and met an orange female kitten that just sat there and purred at me thru the bars of her cage... it's hard to say no to purring...
      It's been a few years since the house fire (lost the cat) and it seemed like time, it is good having a cat.

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  2. Safe travels Sarge, keep the eyes moving when behind that wheel, enjoy Family Time and Merry Christmas to you and your clan.

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  3. What is this? Time off? Did the management approve this? (Thinks for a minute....you are the management....)

    Sounds like a lovely holiday, Sarge. Time with family is never wasted. Even when we went to my parents' house for Christmas in 2020, knowing that it would be the last Christmas together with them made it special enough. We are still fortunate enough that all Na Clann are able to be home, but I suspect we are on the tail end of that being a regular practice with college and careers and whatnot.

    Safest of travels and you have nothing but my prayers and thoughts for your drive. I have to confess that not having to "go" anywhere is actually one of the best Christmas presents of all anymore.

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    Replies
    1. We made it, safe and sound. Traffic wasn't too bad. But we're with the grands!

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  4. Crsuty Old TV Tech here. Time moves faster as the winter of our years approaches. We used to drive to NWLa for Christmas, the kids all bundled up in the station wagon, blasting through the East Texas night. Folks would put lights up around the property so they could be seen from the highway. Those nighttime Christmas trips were sort of like driving around town with the kids, oohing and ahhing at the lights, except at speed. Then, arrival, hot chocolate, cookies, tired sleepy kids off to bed, with dreams of Christmas with Granny and Grandad (and aunt and uncle, and cousins) through the night, while Dad and Grandad assembled various devices. I do miss those days. Merry Christmas to all!

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  5. I'll have a post scheduled for Monday. Replies to comments might be a bit sparse however.
    On a separate note, the gathering of the clan (round 2) happens today. Little Juvat, is reunited with wife and daughter. MBD and Grand Kids arrive today. The Rev arrives around midnight along with Santa. He's got the Christmas Eve service. Brother arrives late tonight, will drive over from Austin in the morning.
    Been a while since the last gathering of the clan. Looking forward to it. Pictures to follow.
    juvat

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  6. Frohe Weinachten, Sarge! Auch Gute Reisen bis MD.
    Bride and I did not drive today owing to granddaughters illness at destination. We are leaving that household alone to heal and recuperate.
    We and our surviving canine will enjoy each others company and remember "The Reason for the season".
    Vaya con Dios
    Boat Guy

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  7. Enjoy the travels while you can. I kind of miss travelling, but then again, I kind of really enjoy the not travelling. Then again, both Mrs. Andrew and I are kind of hermits, who enjoy the time together without the family stress. And we have no kids, and the last couple times we spent with the extended family we spent more time by ourselves as the nieces nephews just dropped in and out for brief moments. Eh, it is what it is. Though I'm bummed that we (Mrs. Andrew and I) never got to spend Christmas in the Smokies, though we did spend one lovely New Year's Day week in the Smokies in a little cabin and it was wonderful.

    Ah, well, yeah.

    Hopefully your (OAFS) family will clan up and start visiting you as the grandkids start aging up and become easier to travel with.

    Post posted on Tuesday. Been a weird holiday season and time is just slipping bye.

    And I agree with Boat Guy above, definitely Via con Dios to you and yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merry Christmas to you and yours! Enjoy time with those you love, no matter how many or how few.

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  8. Merry Christmas to Sarge, Juvat, Tuna, Beans, the occasional posters, the great commenters and the rest of the crowd here at the Chant! Prayers for safe travel for those that are travelling, even if it is just short distances.

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  9. Some more serendipity grist in the hopper.
    Merry Christmas to all!
    John Blackshoe

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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