Christmas Letter - 2017

A Joyful Christmas, One And All:

Here at the Scarborough's we're experimenting with something new: a Christmas Letter.  And since there's little to report (aside from my current 6-days-a-week work schedule, and Tad’s quiet retirement), I’ll describe my experience looking for Christmas cards online, and how I decided to simply pick a few photos from the year gone by to substitute instead. 

I started out googling "Artisan Christmas Cards”.  I had visions of a farmscape filled with enchanting detail.  This led to thousands of images of what seemed like the same old abstract reindeer, redbird, evergreen or Santa hat.  Too hum drum.  So I tried “Antique Christmas Cards”.  This was a bit better, resulting in many Victorian era designs, some of which I'd never seen before.  But, they didn’t feel right.  So, I then tried Fine Art Christmas Cards.  Maybe, but nothing spoke to me.

I wonder if the reason one doesn’t see much that's captivating is that art is too easily copied these days; so artists daren’t risk putting much into their creations.  Thus the slap and dash approach.

A few cards that I considered are linked to here and here.  Comments: they're both nice, but putting candles on a tree is surely fire hazard territory (our old house burned down on Christmas night, 1949); and wishing someone a 'white Christmas' has an unwanted connotation when snowstorms make my workday life a lot more challenging.

As for this year's photos, I know, I know, I need to try harder:

This red-and-green snapshot shows what a maple tree does in the spring when deer nibble on its new leaves.

 Here, we see bees swarming.  No getting near that queen.

To my mind, this is a pretty good definition of 'radius'.  Our kitchen table doesn't get much attention these days, since we eat breakfast in our respective rooms, and dinner while watching TV (pre-recorded late night comedy is our mainstay).  Violets notecard from Kathy A.; mock orange blooming.

Cookies for Santa, from last year.

This pair of sticks (the one on the right is much thinner) got me thinking: what if crows left messages for their friends, like "this place has inactive chimneys".

A few of aunt Libba's daffodils on a wet spring day.  They're reproducing nicely.

Insect's delight: milkweed blooming at the pond (tribute to the late Krista Manard).

Kitchen door, with faithful guardian on lookout.

Sweet William on the march.

At our niece's wedding we met a few new friends.  Can't remember this guy's name for some reason.

At Annie and Kip's wedding party the cake was tree-themed.

Perhaps someone could tag this guy, too.

Hard to see, but the day after this root was exposed (our local utility re-laid our underground electric line this fall), the squirrels had a corncob picnic at the point on the drive where the root pointed (all that's left are kernels, cob and husk).  Coincidence?  Or the logic of how landscape subtly shapes us.

And a larger, 'big picture' photo from the wedding: mother/daughter dance (I 'd already gone to bed).

 

Happy New Year, all!

Thoughts On The Affordable Care Act

I've been following the ACA's fortunes over the years, and have a few thoughts:

 * The Individual Mandate (which requires that everyone carry health insurance) is about to be rescinded by Republicans (as part of their tax overhaul package).  This reminds me of an indulgent grandparent, when babysitting grandkids, declaring that no vegetables need be eaten.  Even the kids know something isn't right.

 * If the Republican tax contraption chugs on up the hill, as seems likely, and the ACA's insurance markets for 2019 come off the rails (without premiums from the young and lucky, the old and unlucky will find theirs unaffordable--if insurers are even offering policies), this will begin to be felt by the general public just as voters are making up their minds in the 2018 midterms.

 * And getting back to that indulgent 'no-vegetables' policy: the thrust of the Trump tax boondoggle can be thought of us an unbalanced meal with the $1.5 trillion in additional debt being the equivalent of a dieter telling himself that if he indulges his poor dining choices even more, then he'll really have to get serious about his diet.  So, the more junk food, the better!