My New Kindle and Other Christmas stuff

Well – I made it through another Christmas. Some time in my life I hope to learn that I do not need to eat all day long every holiday.
We did have a great time all the kids and grandkids are always great to see. I have a few new books to read and a Kindle reader. If the statistics I have read are correct then I and 999,999 others got a Kindle for Christmas. Oh Yea, well how many of them got this book also, Fur, Fortune, and Empire by Eric Dolin?
All in all is was a great Christmas.

Christmas and Sledding

Christmas is over and I am sitting in my recliner playing with my brand new Kindle. All four kids and all seven grandkids made it. BUT as always there had to be a mishap and this one was a dozy. Our four year old granddaughter broke her leg sledding. It was our second day on the hill (yesterday) she is a tough little kid but when she said she needed to go to the doctor we knew it was hurting. Now it is all cast up (hip to foot) and in about eight weeks she will be as good as new. Thank God for grandkids, good doctors and quick healing for four year olds.

Snow and Retirement

15 inches and still snowing--sure glad we finished up our Christmas shopping yesterday. And today is our anniversary, 42 and counting. One and a half years to retirement - not sure if I want to quit or not.

Man Shopping

Well I need to go shopping one more time. I really do not like shopping--except on-line. I really hope that someday I will be able to do all my shopping on line.
I do like being good old Santa to my grand kids. My favorite part--The trip to the North Pole.

Thinking About Home and Wild Bill Hickok

The legend of Wild Bill Hickok began just outside my hometown at a place called Rock Creek station. (Southeast Nebraska) It was here that Wild Bill, by his own account, killed single handedly, nine members of a blood thirsty, cut throat McCanles Gang. Dime novels of the day led to it being called the greatest one man gunfight in American history. A battle Hickok survived with eleven bullet wounds.
What a story – how much of it is true –probably not much.
• Hickok became famous later and the facts changed after he became bigger than life. History forgot that he was charged with murder and released after a trial lasting a few minutes.
• Also his nickname changed from Duck Bill to Wild Bill, likely at his insistence, maybe at the point of a pistol if you insisted on calling him Duck Bill
• There never was a McCanles gang although David McCanles himself was a bully and not liked or missed by many.
• People who saw Hickok soon after the battle reported he had no wounds after the fight.
Anyway, so goes the tight line separating truth from fiction in the old west. Wild Bill went on to become a legend throughout the west. Including right here in Wyoming where he spent some time.

Love This Time of Year

I love this time of year, the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone seems happy; people greet each other, kind of like the old days, so many people smiling and lots of people spending money on others. Wish it could last all year—but not the cold.

If this all sounds a bit sentimental, I’m and old guy and we old guys get sentimental this time of year. Well I’m off to by some presents for my grandkids.

Pearl Harbor Day

We should all remember this day in history. December 7, 1941.
My wife and I visited Pearl Harbor three years ago and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Every American should be lucky enough to some day visit.
When I was in college I had a history professor who told us that when he was a kid he thought he would never watch a parade without old men proudly walking by in their Union and Confederate uniforms. When I was a kid I watched so many old solders marching in their World War One and World War Two uniforms waving to us kids. I hope that there’re not all gone before all of us remember to say thanks. And not just to them but to all who served and are serving now.