Slight Detour: The Day After

AI image created by Laurie Tibbs

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I switched to instrumental country music this morning.

Yesterday morning I carried my phone while walking through the darkness of the Lovestead.

The iPhone in my jacket pocket was alive with beautiful sounds and lyrics from the album "Celtic Christmas Music 2025."

That experience in the midst of outdoor solitude during the dawn definitely provided my personal Christmas reverence, respect and reflection of the "reason for the season."

On this Friday afterward, it's time to switch gears and leave the lovely festivities of Christmas behind.

And, lovely they were in so many ways, including the gifts, the music, the lights and, most importantly, the peeps who made the season special.

One peep who made our day was a supremely creative and very thoughtful former student named Mark.

His gift was a total surprise, and, as is customary with Mark, all aspects in the gift box touched us deeply.

The picture above was included.

We had never seen it before, so to spend a moment remembering our wedding day and our "ungrey" hair so many years ago was nostalgic and delightful.

Thank you, Mark💚💓.

The charcuterie display of boards with engravings of our beloveds was created by my sister Laurie, who loves to use her computer skills for a variety of items like horse show awards and meaningful gifts for friends and family.

She is also into AI and has spent hours blending and creating images of her beloveds and those of others.

I will always treasure the sketch at the top that she put together of Lefty, Lily and CB. The images of each came from separate photos. Laurie blended them into one.

Below: to Barbara and Laurie: this morning I have sampled sausage cooked in the air fryer. Wonderful, and thank you.

This is always a season which I find hard to leave behind because of all the reminders of goodness and generosity, but the nice part is that it will be back again next year.

https://x.com/Milli0nairePath/status/200419799958545:47 AM

And, from Roxane, who cares for my horses over the winter, came a beautiful Lily-like ornament to add to the Christmas tree.

Love it.

Speaking of gifts, we seem to have the household gift that keeps on giving, and we would prefer to refuse this gift.

On the good side, Adam (above), who has done computer-related and satellite work for us in the past, appeared at the door Wednesday morning.

"I"m here to take the stuff," he said. And, so Adam removed the utility dryer and all the plastic sheeting surrounding the area where sheet rock was damaged during the wind storm.

"We're finally done," I thought. No more repairs or replacement purchases for a while.

Silly me!

We now have water seeping from the base of the upstairs toilet, which means another plumber visit.

It appears that it will never be over for us until it's completely over for us, so we'll just keep rolling and groaning with the punches.

A day without repairs or new invoices would be really nice. In the meantime, the gift of home ownership keeps on taking.

Happy Friday.

Hope everyone had the best Christmas possible.