I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: Slice of Life

  • The First Noel? Not Exactly


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    Pretty and me – our first Christmas

    In the wake of the most devastating attack against the United States since Pearl Harbor, Pretty and I shared our first Christmas in the home we’d bought when we moved in together in the summer of 2001. The entire world changed after the 9-11 act of terrorism in New York City and, while Pretty and I were as devastated as the rest of the nation, I have to say that nothing dampened our happiness as we prepared for the holidays.

    Pretty loves Christmas, and she decked the halls and walls and everything else she could find to deck with holiday trimmings – the house was a sea of vibrant red and green and silver and gold  colors, and the packages were carefully wrapped in beautiful papers to match the thoughtfulness of every gift she bought.

    I, on the other hand, lost my love of Christmas somewhere along the way in my life with my “lost saints and childhood faith,” to quote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but my love of Pretty was fresh and new and as shiny as the ornaments on our tree so the smile on my face in the picture captures my emotions perfectly.

    Our older dogs Annie (Pretty had her from a previous relationship)and Sassy (ditto for me from my ex) and our new “together” puppy Red were having a fun time adjusting to their new home and to each other, but they seemed to sense the additional excitement in the air during the holiday season. They were as busy as little bees buzzing around the tree and presents – sniffing to beat the band.

    My mother Granny Selma flew in from Texas to spend a few days and spent a great deal of her time wandering around the house looking for the stairs and/or worrying about the one king-sized bed in our bedroom. She also was a good one for counting the dogs when we were all in the kitchen sitting on stools at the island in the middle of the room.

    One… two… three dogs, she would count out loud and I’d say that’s right, Mom, three dogs. No more. No less. As I look back, I can see the beginning of her dementia at that Christmas visit, but I chose to ignore those early signs.

    Pretty’s family came on Christmas day to open gifts and eat our mid-afternoon meal which was a sit-down meal in the real dining room we had in our first house. Pretty’s father, sister and son combined with my mother made for a strange mixture at that first family gathering, but they all shared a love for Pretty and me so we blended into a family that is now a part of the American fabric.

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    My Christmas Cactus

    Fifteen Christmases later Pretty still loves the holiday season and everything that goes with it. I’m sure she has spent the week in Florida buying presents that she will need to carefully wrap this weekend while we put up our outside tree for our neighborhood association Lights of Christmas. I will help as much as I can, but I am the first to admit my limitations in decorating.

    I do, however, love my Christmas cactus in my office – it stays on the front porch for most of the year but when the weather turns cold and the blooms burst into colors, I bring it in to enjoy to the max. My dad’s monkey reading the Wall St. Journal is a permanent office fixture. I think he likes the Christmas cactus, too.

    Have a Merry weekend as the year winds down and the traffic revs up.

    Stay tuned.

  • Merry Ho-Hum


    And so this is Christmas at Casa de Canterbury…Pretty had to make an unexpected trip to Florida to drive her father to see his brother this week, and Spike and Charly are left with me during the holiday season.

    As you can see, they are not hopeful for Merry Ho, Ho this week without Pretty.

    duke-trip-and-potpourri

    The weather outside is frightful, and my dear, you’re not delightful…whenever did my fun become pain? Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain. Sigh.

    Come home soon, Pretty – we are all struggling without you.

     

  • And Now, a Word from Our Sponsor


    Just kidding – we don’t even have a sponsor to interrupt us, but I do have a few  pictures and thoughts to go with them. I’m taking a break from my PEST (Post Election Stressful Trauma) and concentrating on the potential for holiday good cheer with cards from old friends and a former President I shamelessly admire for his ongoing efforts to “Wage Peace” in a lifetime of public service.

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     This year’s card 

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    Each year for many years former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter send us a Christmas card. I can set my Christmas clock by it. It’s one of two cards that arrive at Casa de Canterbury immediately following Thanksgiving. Our tried-and-true friend James Brown from Greenville sends a beautiful card we always love that announces the holiday season, and the Carters are close behind with good wishes from their family and the Carter Center.

    I first began supporting Jimmy Carter in 1976 when he was running for President. At the time I was disenchanted with the Washington establishment during and following the Nixon administration. I believed we needed a change from those horrific public Watergate nightmares in order to move forward with a higher moral compass in the White House. I thought the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia would be just the person to shake things up…OMG, Somebody stop me.

    I just can’t give it a rest.

    Oh well, enjoy a few of the other Carter Christmas cards over the years. I promise to shut up.

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    President Carter’s own drawing of cutting a Christmas tree with his daughter Amy

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    Christmas in Plains, Georgia, his home town

    (another personal drawing)

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    His boyhood home in Plains

    (also his drawing)

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    I couldn’t have said it better myself. From the Carters and Casa de Canterbury to all our friends in cyberspace.

    Imagine peace.

     

     

  • Pretty Set Free in Time for Thanksgiving!


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    Autumn colors at Casa de Canterbury

    Pretty escaped the confinement of her hospital bed and the Magic Motion Machine yesterday afternoon and was deliriously happy to be liberated!

    When she went to her therapy session after her release, everyone was pleased that she can now bend her knee to 126 whereas before her procedure she could only do 106. I am not sure what all these numbers actually mean, but I do know the optimum number range is 120 – 130 for knee bending because Pretty told me so herself, and now she is smack dab in the middle of the range so all is well at the moment.

    As Thanksgiving rolls around for us at Casa de Canterbury, we find ourselves planning an unusual family gathering here.  (Yes, well, the family is unusual like most families, and it’s highly unusual for everyone to be here.) We normally drive to the Upstate to the party room of the First Baptist Church of Fingerville, South Carolina to share a meal with Pretty’s mother’s remaining family members plus our son and his wife, her dad, her sister and brother-in-law. Since that would be a tough trip for her to make this year, her immediate family members are coming here.

    While Pretty was at her second post-Magic Machine PT this morning, I ordered the ham and turkey from the helpful folks at Honey Baked Hams. Yum.

    As my regular cyberspace friends already know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I think that love affair began when I was a little girl living with my grandmother who started roasting a turkey in a very special small oven in the wee hours of the morning and I awoke to the aroma of that baking bird plus a variety of fresh apple and cherry pies which would be served with an extra sprinkling of sugar and a small shaving of butter on top of the crust when it was done.

    I slept in a tiny enclosed porch next to the kitchen at my grandmother’s house until I was thirteen years old, and the only partition between the kitchen and my bed was a folding  piece of plastic that looked like an accordion when it was closed. The unbelievable smells from the kitchen bypassed the plastic curtain and enveloped me when I awoke on Thanksgiving morning. Who wouldn’t love a holiday that began like that…

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    Spike will be the official Family Greeter for us

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    We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Pretty is home, and I am still able to take care of her with the help of an army of friends who have stood by our side in the past few months to support us with taxi services, food, flowers and general fun to lighten our burdens and anxieties. Bless all of your hearts for all you have done and continue to do.

    Thank you again to our cyberspace followers who have had an ongoing bond with The Red Man and his family for the past six years. We love you all and wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Count us among those.

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  • P.S. Stan the Man


    Stan Wawrinka won the 2016 Men’s Final at the US Open today in four sets after losing the first set in a tie-breaker. He appeared to get stronger each set as the match continued for nearly four hours. At 31 years and five months, he is the oldest man to win the US Open since Ken Rosewall in 1970. Congratulations to Stan for a thrilling match and a remarkable example of courage and determination!