Tis the season…

I got the strangest Christmas greeting the other day, and I would like to share it with you:

It read: Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.  I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great.  Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.  Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.”

‘Tis the season…

Anyone who remembers an Austin Daily Herald article about Shane and Kelli Dietrich and the family will be interested to know the parents took their 8-year-old daughter, Meagan, to mitochondrial disease specialists at an Ohio hospital to begin a series of tests Dec. 10.

Now back home in Austin, mom Kelli reports all tests went well and now the family is waiting for the results.

Austinites generously responded to the family’s plea for financial assistance to make the trip after being overwhelmed by uncovered medical expenses.

Meagan’s mom also must deal with mitochondrial disease complications.

The Dietrich family expresses their appreciation to all for their generous thoughts, prayers and donations at Accentra Credit Union.

‘Tis the season…

If only I could ride my bike I would go through the Morning Grind Coffee Shop on First Avenue Southwest Friday.

The owners are taking donations for Mike Bauer, the Rose Creek man with extraordinary medical expenses after open heart surgery in late November. Mike is recovering at home and receiving TLC from his wife, Anne, and their seven children.

The owners of the Morning Grind Coffee Shop are donating 50 percent of Friday’s receipts to the Bauer family.

There are a lot of hands out this Christmas for help, but none as more serious as the Bauer family’s.

‘Tis not the season…

If you’re like me, there’s nothing like a skinny dipping story to take your mind off the cold Minnesota winter weather in December.

An elderly man in West Virginia had owned a farm for several years.  He had a large pond in the back.

It was properly shaped for swimming, so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts and some apple, and peach trees.

One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn’t been there for a while, and looked it over. He grabbed a five-gallon bucket to bring back some fruit.

As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond.

He made the women aware of his presence, and they all went to the deep end.

One of the women shouted to him, “We’re not coming out until  you leave!”

The old man frowned, “I didn’t come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked.”

Holding the bucket up he said, “I’m here to feed the alligator.”

Some old men can still think fast.