Happy 2009!

Wow, 2008 ended with a bang. I went into finals well (at least as a profess or I give the finals instead of taking them) with a 101 degree fever and a vile cough, which turned into pneumonia. Then, just as school let out, the snow began and lasted a week and a half. In the middle of the snow we had an ice storm, which dealt the final blow to the dying Hobbit Tree. Check out all the ice covering the branches -- the broken branches now sprawling across the garden. A tree service is suppose to come soon and give an estimate for cutting the thing down and hauling off some of the other broken limbs and debris. I'm going to leave about 6 feet of trunk for the Lincoln Constance rose to scramble over.

Then the power went out on the Solstice, the longest night of the year. For three nights we were without heat and light. We have a gas furnace, but of course it requires electricity to run the thermostat that kicks it on and the fan that distributes heat. We do have a gas water heater that's independent of the power source so we could at least get a hot shower, and we filled the tub with hot water and put the birds in the bathroom to keep them warm.

On Christmas Eve morning, just as we were despairing of having power for Christmas, the lights and the furnace came on. My son was still stuck up in icy, snowy Portland were most of the buses weren't running, but his girlfriend came to the rescue when she borrowed her mother's car with studded snow tires and drove him down Christmas morning. Best two Christmas presents ever!

It was a little more end-of-year excitement than I really wanted, and all told, 2008 has been a good year to come to an speedy close.

So may 2009 bring us many good things. May good fortune cling like cockleburrs and ill luck be as rare as fern seeds. May our gardens grow happiness and may the only things we lose be our debts. Happy New Year, everyone.