Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all

and

a Happy and Holy New Year!

Just a small and funny note: this year as I set up my creche it is short the sheep and the donkey who were bored, seemingly, with spending the last 40 years in my household. Last Christmas they hitched a ride in the pocket of my then two year old grandson's overalls and headed for the West Coast. They must have known that my grandson had an affinity for animals, especially farm animals. In any case my grandson is keeping up one of our less stellar family traditions ... when my oldest son, his father, was the same age, my relatives got into the habit of frisking him before we left their homes just in case he had acquired some small, attractive something or other. Today, said son is as honest as the day is long but as a toddler, not so much ... and he seems to have passed that propensity down to his own son. Now, it's his turn to deal with a light-fingered son ... what they say about things going around and coming around is most certainly true.