Christmas Eve featured the traditional Alison Elgee boef extravaganza. And a WONDERFUL gingered carrot soup. I scored a way cool bird feeder, neat stackable cookie cooling racks, and a flock of bottles of good red as gifts. And my kitchen counter is stacked high with a wide assortment of other edible gifts.
As is the norm with the (dwindling) Lindstrom tribe, Christmas dinner was the crown jewel of the family Christmas season. Mom is not yet physically able to stand on her feet for extended periods; but my sister, Linda, knows the turkey drill from many years of observation and experience. Yummy. And mom did rally to make the lime jello/shrimp salad that my good friend, Martha, found so wonderful and my daughters, Leah and Amanda, regard as so bizarre. So, there you have it. Another Christmas done.
On to 2010!
But first a note on the past year which started out with considerable promise but seemed to lose steam on all fronts as the months passed. Mr. Dave Barry catches the essence of 2009 in his year-end piece, a representative sample of which follows:
Michael Jackson dies, setting off an orgy of frowny-face, TV-newsperson fake somberness the likes of which has not been seen since the Princess Diana Grief-a-Palooza. At one point, experts estimate that the major networks are using the word "icon" a combined total of 850 times an hour. Larry King devotes several weeks to in-depth coverage of this story, during which he conducts what is believed to be the first-ever in-casket interview; this triumph is marred only slightly by the fact that the venerable TV personality apparently believes he is talking to Bette Midler.
The entire piece can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/18/AR2009121802219.html?hpid=topnews
And in other news, this morning's Washington Post also includes a fascinating story about an American evangelical who has taken missionary work to a new level. A Mr. Robert Park crossed the China-North Korea border yesterday - proclaiming as he entered the Hermit Kingdom "I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you..."
Some conservative/evangelical outfit called Pax Koreana may have sponsored Mr. Park's sojourn. The organization's blog says that Mr. Park carried a letter to North Korea's President Kim Jong Il that states, in part:
"Please open your borders so that we may bring food, provisions, medicine, necessities, and assistance to those who are struggling to survive," said the letter, according to a copy posted on the conservative group's Web site. "Please close down all concentration camps and release all political prisoners today."
Who can argue with this? Certainly not me. I am tempted to send Pax Koreana a donation with the hope and expectation that they will send additional emissaries on this mission. One can only hope that this catches on with the wider evangelical community.
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