tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post3690621353250281960..comments2023-12-27T13:35:09.431-07:00Comments on Exile in Portales: A Seasonal Re-runBuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-10372099958832626272012-12-04T10:39:47.713-07:002012-12-04T10:39:47.713-07:00I'd prolly still be sending cards if I were st...I'd prolly still be sending cards if I were still married. Or mebbe not. TSMP ain't the same woman now as the one I married.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-86702211356978932462012-12-04T10:38:37.171-07:002012-12-04T10:38:37.171-07:00I can't believe Toby's aunt! That's o...I can't believe Toby's aunt! That's over the top...<br /><br />You can call any time, Lou. But if ya call late you MIGHT find me in the same state of mind.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-47222316483724239352012-12-04T10:36:44.774-07:002012-12-04T10:36:44.774-07:00Speaking of the Lefon family... have you been to T...Speaking of the Lefon family... have you been to The Lexicans lately?<br /><br />I'm "on final" too, Virgil. I remain optimistic about our prospects, though. I may be irrational in my dotage, but I see lots of good signs out here in flyover country.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-14505854589953170012012-12-03T19:40:59.743-07:002012-12-03T19:40:59.743-07:00Same here. Without knowledge of the background und...Same here. Without knowledge of the background underlying those songs they lose most of their emotional impact. When we Vietnam-era fossiles depart--the children of the WWII generation--almost no one wuill be left who knows...Christmas can be a bitter sweet time, especially so for the LaFon family..gonna be a helluva Holiday period for them..especially the way lex was lost. Losses in combat, as bad as they are, are to a certain extent expected--one steels one's self aforehand for the possibility--not that it makes the immediate shock of the loss any less painful--and at least one can gain partial consolation in the knowledge that it was for a greater cause. But the very unexpectedness of such a loss in a peace-time training accident seems more unsettling...which just goes to show how truly dangerous even training for wartime conditions can be when one is operating on the margins of the performance envelope which most combat tng does. <br /><br />(I read somewhere that if a Navy fighter squadron flew carrier ops together straight thru for a 20 year career with no shore/staff duty--which, of course, never happens--the accident rate alone would see 2/3rds dead at the end of the 20 yr period. "Fly the friendly skies" is a nice sounding corporate slogan, however..)<br /><br />Hate to sound maudlin, gang, I mean, *I* know I'm on the final glide-path at this stage of my life--and I'm ok with that--never expected to make it past 50 with <i>my</i> lifestyle--but ever since the election I fear this nation is also headed down the glide-slope--and that's nothing to lift a "cup of Christmas cheer" to...I (and all my fellow comrads-in-arms) risked--and many sacrificed--our lives for <i>THIS?</i> For Obamaworld? For everything to have been in vain? As has been said, our nation flunked its IQ test this last election. Not a whole helluva lot to be "Merry" about--except for small personal familial triumphs--which is fine in the short-run, but..<br /><br />LOL, sportsfans, "Cue the suicide watch, Virgil's at it again.." <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />virgil xenophonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11491836830352263438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-15191469582952773122012-12-03T16:58:56.602-07:002012-12-03T16:58:56.602-07:00"I'll Be Home for Christmas" always ..."I'll Be Home for Christmas" always chokes me up. My parents made sure, when we were little kids, that we knew where that song came from and why. And "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" always gets me as well.<br /><br />I do send out Christmas Cards. The list has been at around 40-45 for years now; that doesn't count the ones I send to my friends at work. That adds another 10-15 to the list. But they get different cards and they are mailed thru the internal mail system. I've noticed the number of cards we get has gone down in recent years but that's fine; I'll still send mine out anyway.Kris, in New Englandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05185696221729269932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-60781854054546363612012-12-03T15:36:59.258-07:002012-12-03T15:36:59.258-07:00I like getting cards that are unique in some way o...I like getting cards that are unique in some way or personalized. I really hate getting a cheesy card with someone's name stamped inside - can't even sign their names! Toby's aunt (a retired doctor) sent out cards with lots of Christmas stickers inside. When I peeled them off, it turns out that they were sample cards with "your name here" on the inside. Wow, she didn't even buy the cards! Cheap! Why bother?<br /><br />I like my blog buddy, Jo's Christmas ritual. They call people. Better yet, I think it would be fun to get drunk and call people - drinkin' and dialin'<br /><br />Thanks for the link. I'll be sure and send you a card or call you when I've had too much to drink.Bag Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01885412195900280096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-65976643931672278852012-12-03T10:21:18.506-07:002012-12-03T10:21:18.506-07:00As to your first... I'm thinkin' "not...As to your first... I'm thinkin' "not many." It's only us geezers that remember any longer. And some young'uns. <b>;-)</b><br /><br />I'm glad you uphold the traditions, Jim.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-17619809682830389112012-12-03T10:17:57.912-07:002012-12-03T10:17:57.912-07:00I wonder how many younger folks who hear "I&#...I wonder how many younger folks who hear "I'll Be Home For Christmas" understand what sort of person is supposed to be singing it? The context was taken for granted in earlier times, but I wonder.<br /><br />Anyway, we usually send out about 45 or 50, get similar in return. Many are just a way of keeping the lines of communication open with good old friends who are far away. In any case, we look forward to opening every single one of them and then arranging them artfully on our door as space permits.Suldoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07778845367184916684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-32712199733931688642012-12-03T10:14:48.294-07:002012-12-03T10:14:48.294-07:00Agreed on your last, Dan.Agreed on your last, Dan.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-37431656158783712312012-12-03T10:13:29.442-07:002012-12-03T10:13:29.442-07:00I DO get your drift, Sarge. My father flew with T...I DO get your drift, Sarge. My father flew with The Mighty Eighth, as you know. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" was one of my parents' favorite Christmas tunes... for the memories that were in it. I can remember Christmas parties in the way, wayback when I was a young child o' eight or nine when my father, and his buddies... all of whom fought in The Big One... would sing that song, and the wives would join in. Talk about <i>poignant</i>... <br /><br />So... yeah.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-22876719397944239812012-12-03T10:08:19.196-07:002012-12-03T10:08:19.196-07:00I can understand the "maybe," Skip. All...I can understand the "maybe," Skip. All y'all have a lot on your plate right now.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-41086294814303502792012-12-03T10:07:40.829-07:002012-12-03T10:07:40.829-07:00So Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus are in the tent?...<i>So Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus are in the tent?</i><br /><br />In spirit...Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-73624779721798477912012-12-03T09:49:43.080-07:002012-12-03T09:49:43.080-07:00We used to send out lots of cards, but stopped som...We used to send out lots of cards, but stopped sometime in the late '80s. We still get a few, mostly commercial ones. I sorta miss them too. And I really like that B-17 card you've put up before. To me, one thing it says is that the Prince of Peace needs a little back up from time to time. :-)<br />Dapper Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01230099347154360809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-15888551753369105092012-12-03T08:56:34.281-07:002012-12-03T08:56:34.281-07:00I like your kind of card. In the background one sh...I like your kind of card. In the background one should have "I'll Be Home for Christmas" playing.<br /><br />I remember a poster I saw some years back, WWII era. Showed your typical American rural-type home, decorated for the holidays, had a Blue Star Mother's flag in the window. Caption had some of the lyrics for "I'll Be Home for Christmas", in the sky above this lovely holiday setting was a kind of ghostly B-17, symbolizing the kids fighting for their country in the ETO and NOT being home.<br /><br />Man, I'm getting a little choked up just typing this. But I think you get my drift.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-54894404384565087252012-12-03T08:44:07.676-07:002012-12-03T08:44:07.676-07:00Things are a little upside down around here. Maybe...Things are a little upside down around here. Maybe there'll be cards and maybe not.<br /><br />I like what Craig asks about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.(not necessarily your) Uncle Skiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02705753220273516841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-43809218922217448762012-12-03T08:27:06.767-07:002012-12-03T08:27:06.767-07:00So Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus are in the tent?...So Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus are in the tent?<br /><br />We send out about 50-60 cards every year. About half of 'em are just to keep in touch with folks we don't see very often, but don't want to lose touch with. . .Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12044041773404411751noreply@blogger.com