Update Dec. 27 - Jan. 2

Happy New Year to everyone. May 2016 be a bright, beautiful year for you all. I resolve to pay less attention to the madness and mayhem happening in the world (and on which the media feeds) and to focus more on what's happening within my own immediate "sphere of influence." Help a neighbor. Pet a kitty. Be nice to someone I don't necessarily need to be nice to. Want a friend? Be a friend. Worry less, play more. Strive for these things, but be forgiving if I don't always achieve them. I gotta get off the Google News Page. Every day, it's more of the same ... violence, shootings, North Korea, Syria, Iran, the latest rantings of Donald Trump, my God it's the election year now. Does anyone know a website that reports good news?

It's been fairly quiet here the last week in anticipation of the New Year. We've been mostly relaxing, taking naps, eating out and cooking in, couch binging on episodes of "Brooklyn  99" and "Parks & Recreation, and taking little rides here and there just to get out of the apartment. Here's a brief rundown.

Sunday Dec. 27 -- Packer Opt Out

We decided not to go the Packers/Cardinals game at "Buckets" sports bar that evening, partly because we've grown tired of the food there, and partly because the Cardinals were the overwhelming favorite and we didn't want to sit in a bar for 2 hours spending $40 on food/drink to watch the Pack lose, and sure enough the Pack got their hash cooked to the tune of 38 to 8.

Monday Dec. 28 -- Citrus Run

Today, we made a drive to Sun Harvest Citrus for some grapefruit and oranges. The naval oranges were still very marginal, so we passed on those, but did buy some "Baby O Mandarins" which were sweet, juicy, and delicious. We also bought some Ruby Red Grapefruit, which are some of the best I've had EVER down here, and that's saying something. I've had several this week, and they are awesomely delicious!

Thursday Dec. 31 -- New Year's Eve Dinner Out

We wanted kind of special dinner out for New Year's Eve, and so went to Pincher's Crab Shack on San Carlos Blvd. Dawn had fried shrimp, while I had fried clams. These are just about the best fried clams around, in my opinion. Most places give you these tiny strips of clams and put gobs of breading on them to the point where all you taste is the breading. Here, they use plump strips of clam with a light coating of panko bread crumbs. They are sweet and delicious, and taste like the open ocean smells. Add a side of cole slaw and baked beans, and you have yourself one fine meal, my friends. We each had a $5 coupon from our earlier gift card purchase, so our platters were only $10.99 each, and with tax and tip we managed to stay just under $15 apiece for a fantastic meal out.

Friday Jan. 1 -- New Years

We had a nice meal out at the Sunflower Cafe, which has more or less become our holiday eating place because we know it will be open, and we'll get a good meal at a reasonable price. We each started out with a cup of matzo ball soup, which we both pronounced delicious, and neither of us could remember the last time we had it. A perfect matzo ball --- not too dense, not too loose -- floating in a delicious, not-too-salty, chicken broth with chunks of chicken and vegetables. For entrees, I had a Reuben sandwich, while Dawn had a grilled cheese. I skipped dessert, while Dawn had a cup of rice pudding. This place is the equivalent of "The Dairyland" family restaurant in Madison, or just about any Albanian/Greek family restaurant in most Anytown, USA. They draw their "regulars" of working-class stiffs, folks with not a lot of money, and of course senior citizens in various states of mental and physical well-being (or not so well being). Our attention was drawn to a single diner, perhaps 65, who sat alone in a two-person booth across the aisle from us. He walked with one of those canes that has a four-post base on it for greater stability, and it was obvious he'd suffered a stroke on his left side. With some effort, he seated himself at the booth, and began flipping through the menu with his one good hand. He was obviously a regular, as the waitress knew his name (we'll call him Phil) and was chatting cheerfully with him about the New Year, and the weather and so forth. What touched us most was after he ordered the pork loin dinner, the waitress asked, "Phil, can we cut the meat into bite size pieces for you, as usual?" to which Phil replied yes, and thank you. Now, if that doesn't make you pause and feel thankful for what you have, then you must have ice water flowing through your veins. It made us sad for a moment (the fact he was dining alone probably had another sad story behind it), but then thankful for what we have and for what we often take for granted. And we felt good about patronizing a restaurant that cares about their regulars enough to give them a little extra help and service with a smile.

Saturday Jan. 2 -- Dawn Goes Cookie Decorating

Today, Dawn had an invite from her friend, Karen, to visit in Naples and make/decorate holiday cookies, so I had the apartment all to myself that day. I used the opportunity to finish my latest wristwatch column for the association magazine for which I write. I'll be retiring that position end of 2016, at which point I'll have written the column for 20 years. Time to pass the torch to someone else. Always feels good to finish a story, and I celebrated with a nap until Dawn got home, at which point we went out for dinner. We were planning on eating at Outback Steak House, but when we arrived there was a mob of people that could not be believed. So we opted instead for DJ Chinese, which is in the same strip mall, and had Asian instead. Dawn had moo-goo-gai-pan, a delicious standard dish at most Asian places, and I went with half of a Peking duck ... my first such foray into that Asian delicacy, which is rarely served any more at most Asian places, unless you're in a "China Town" in some major city. The duck was delicious, with a crisp skin and juicy meat underneath. I don't know that I would order one again any time soon, for it is quite rich (read: greasy!) but it was very yummy, especially the breast meat.

Sunday Jan. 3 -- Workout, More Writing, Packer Night Game

Today, when I'm done with this blog entry, I am off to Planet Fitness for a workout. When I return, I hope to do a little more work on my lecture to be presented in February at a regional watch meeting in Lakeland, Fla. We are skipping the Packer game again at "Buckets" pub because it's an evening game that probably won't finish up until close to midnight which is way past our normal bedtime. How they will do against the Vikings is anyone's guess. The Pack will have the home field advantage at Lambeau Field, but Minnesota is used to playing in cold weather as well.

Speaking of cold weather, we note that the warm weather honeymoon in Wisconsin is finally over, an the folks back home are dealing with 20s during the days and single digits at night. Sorry to hear it.
Throw another log on the fire. May's coming ;-)

Love,

Bruce & Dawn