This is it for the year. The final essay. I’ve got to finish getting ready for Christmas, my sinuses suck, I have cataract surgery on the 28th, and I’m tired.

Woke in Houston yesterday ready to go home. A big storm, however, sat between here and there. So, I waited.

Got up this morning ready to drive home to a Christmas party house concert, only to discover the party was cancelled the day I left home..

Ah, suburbia. Home to extravagant Christmas light displays. I love it.

Earlier this month, as I was starting my Christmas card push, I bought several sheets of specialty Christmas stamps. Time passed between the buying and the using. Guess what?

I have a nice pair of dress shoes. Bostonian by brand. I like wearing them. Unfortunately, the frequency of wear is a lot less than it used to be.

My Christmas cards went out yesterday. While I was lying in bed last night, however, I realized there were a few people I wanted to add to the card list.

I had a good day yesterday. Addressed Christmas cards in the morning and went to listen to music in the afternoon. The day was cool, the music sweet, and the friends plentiful.

I saw a cloud Friday evening. It had the shape of a leaf, standing on end. I could see veins and the midrib.

I walk some ground, look at the trees, and everything seems at ease.

If there’s an upside to winter and long dark nights. It’s cool air and long dark nights.

An odd thing happened early this year. Beginning around May, almost every time I saw myself in a picture, I saw an emaciated, dead-eyed, wasted, skeletal wreck of an old man…

Gray skies promised rain all day yesterday. Gray skies failed to deliver. I guess they had business elsewhere.

I entertained yesterday afternoon. Had two people over. There was wine, cheese, and some wassail. It was fun.

I bought a new red-cased LED flashlight. It was bright, and I liked it. then I lost it. I was sad.

Time for the old school journalist to step up. I got up late this morning. It’s 7:25. I have to leave in an hour for an appointment and 300 words are waiting to be written.

A cruise onto the morning porch reveals a light, soft fog over the pasture, a refreshing chill in the air, and that’s about it.

Well, the pendulum of life just swung me through three days in the funky zone.