GOODBYE TO CHRISTMAS

Christmas has come and gone. It's time to think about taking down the tree and putting away the little doodads and packing up the Christmas cards so I'll have them next year to know who to send cards to.

Gooebye, angels with too-tall candles!

Goodbye, little bird-that-brings-good-luck on the tree!

Goodbye, old beloved Opus with festive Christmas antlers!

Goodbye, Christmas, goodbye!

The football bowl games have already started, but I can look forward to their ending soon.

A new year is nearly upon us, so hopes for the future loom large and gratitude for seeing it arrive is downright overwhelming.

Then we're back to the ordinary life of roof leaks and plumbing problems and stringent diets!

DANGEROUS PLACE TO LIVE

We live near the airport. No, the planes landing and taking off don't bother us. Most of the air traffic is in the daytime and the runways are parallel to our neighbothood so the planes don't fly directly over us. Even when we first moved in, we seldom noticed the noise.

But last year, a plane fell as it was taking off. It landed on a house beneath the takeoff runway path a few blocks away from us. Sadly, the pilot was killed. The house was damaged but no one was home at the time.

Okay. These things happen. Right?

Then a few days ago, another accident. This time the plane was en route to Savannah-Hilton Head Airport but the pilot had engine trouble and headed for our little airport. He didn't make it. Instead, he landed on a roof some distance from the end of the runway. (And from our house, thank goodness!)

Here's a picture of the plane on the roof

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The homeowner was out in the yard when the plane alit on his roof. His wife was on the back patio relaxing. Can you imagine their disbelief? 

There was a happy outcome. A paramedic was nearby and rushed to help set up a ladder to get the men down. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were seriously hurt. Some scratches and cuts to the legs did lead to a hospital visit but it was brief.

The pilot must have been very experienced and very lucky to have pulled off this landing!

As for my guy and me...

We look up everytime we hear a plane going over. Just to make sure it's staying in the air, you know?

CANDY

I don't cook except for making candy. I make the old-fashioned kind. Like fudge:

And divinity:

And pralines:

And my favorite that my mother used to make when I was a kid, peanut butter candy:

Tomorrow I get to cut them and parcel them out. It's hard to know who eats candy and who doesn't nowadays but I've never had anyone refuse it. My petsitter gets a package and also the vet's office for their loving care of my sweet cats. Then my critique partners and some other friends.

I try to give it all away--yes, I do, I really do!--but somehow there always seem to be a few pieces left over.

Guess they'll take care of those pounds I've struggled to lose.

COMMUNITY BAND

Forgetting our whining about all our tiny disasters, we went over to the mainland Thursday for a concert by the community band. This one had a theme of classics. Like the William Tell Overture. That always make my toes tap. The medley of Beatle tunes was familiar while The Klaxon March wasn't. (This is a salute to the car horns, or klaxons, on old classic cars.)

The band's members come from three counties. Since anyone who plays an instrument is welcome to join, they have senior citizens, high school students, middle school students, and everyday business people. Several are band/music teachers at different schools who have some of their children playing.

They believe music should be free to everyone though a donation is always welcome. There was no one in the lobby to take it when we left, but I will see if I can send a check this week because the music was well worth it. The hour went by very fast.

This photo was taken before the place started filling up. I thought from the red shirts it might be a Christmas concert, but it wasn't.

Anyway, the evening was a nice interlude before the man comes to see about the leak in our roof.