The first day of the new year was a lazy one. We had been up late because the boys were home and that meant late TV. Do any of you remember how the new year used to come in before TV? We listened on the radio as the clock struck twelve and stations from Chicago would herald in the “new” with revelers on the dance floor. We faithfully listened to WGN, WLS, WBBM, WMAQ, switching back and forth to the dance pavilions of the Aragon, Paragon and Trianon. (Spelling and names could be wrong. I checked with Rocky’s sister who lived near Chicago (early on) and my cousin, Dale, who is great at research.) Someone help us out with this.

I planned on a late dinner as Becky had to work until mid-afternoon. Mom walked over with a couple of fresh cherry pies (made from frozen cherries) and I had the main course. It was George’s favorite and Warren’s as well….they always had a fight over who got the last piece. Warren always said he liked to see George come because he knew he would get a cherry pie. We hated to see George go but it was the last day he could be with us. He left shortly after our meal. Later, John, Warren and I settled down with full stomachs and watched football. A family addiction.

The next day was spent bringing in the boxes from the garage to put the decorations away for another year and to rake leaves. John raked while Warren watched the fire. We have many oaks that don’t drop all their leaves until later in the winter and even early Spring. That means on nice spots of good weather during the winter months, we get out and rake all we can. I spent the day getting the house back in order and cleaning. When John was through with the leaves, he did his running. He continued working on the leaves the next few days and finished the job. It was certainly appreciated…..it’s a big job with so many trees.

January 8th John ran in a race at West Plains and completed it in 2-hours 15-min…no matter how bad the weather, he ran anyway. After all these years, I still don’t see how he can do all that running….I’m going to find out how many marathons he’s run since the beginning. Amazing to me how the human body can take all that jarring but women my age are running so I guess it’s all in the desire and not in the body. I love activity and work at lawn and garden….housework is not for sissies if you do it right…..so of course, I usually go to the kitchen and whip up a cake or cookies rather than go for a run. Each to his own…..

I have a friend coming for lunch today so I will stop with this. Tomorrow we will have to get serious with 1981.……

Until then,
Essentially Esther