Ponder: Pony

Pony, by R.J.Palacio ©2021 had been resting inconspicuously on a shelf in my family room for about the past two years, having been bought on an impulse at Costco. I have a nearly eight-year old granddaughter who is quite horse crazy and decided to pre-read the novel before giving it to her. I came across this interesting dream-horse blog post about why many girls are indeed horse-crazy. The phenomenon is quite common. I had to chuckle when one Psychology Today reference stated:

 With horses, women are practicing the same skills they use to train their boyfriends and children.

Pony is intended for a young adult audience, and the author is well praised for her book Wonder, which I thought was awesome enough that I rated it five stars. Disappointedly, even when I shifted my mindset to reflect that of a young adult book, I thought Pony was mediocre at best. Although the premise was intriguing in Amazon's description...

The bestselling author of Wonder returns with an enthralling adventure about a boy on a quest to rescue his father, with only a ghost as his companion and a mysterious pony as his guide.

... the role of the pony in the book was not nearly as major as the title might lead the reader (or the purchaser) to believe. In an Amazon review, even a 10 year old reader suggested the book be renamed, "Ghosts" or "Mittenwool".  Pony read more like a western adventure to me than an equine story at all. I had higher expectations from the author and the title.  At the risk of appearing sexist or stereotypical, I thought this book would appeal more to a shoot-'em-up, cowboy-enthralled boy than a horse-enamored girl. I will admit though, that 12 year old Silas, is quite an endearing main character, even if he isn't a horse.

I still can learn something from a book even if it does not meet my expectations. Amazon's website advertised the book as Pony Hardcover – Deckle Edge, September 28, 2021 which made me wonder, "What is a Deckle Edge?". I looked it up in Wikipedia and learned:

Paper with a feathered edge is described as having a deckle edge, in contrast to a cut edge. Before the 19th century, the deckle edge was unavoidable, a natural artifact of the papermaking process in which sheets of paper were made individually on a deckle, a wooden frame. Today, machine-made paper may artificially have its edges produced with deckle edges.

This edging seemed very appropriate since Pony was staged in the mid-1850's. This mid-19th century typical book edging contributed to the feel of western genre.

There were a fair number of coincidences in the book, particularly in the denouement, that might lend themselves to childlike amazement; but to the adult in me, those happenstances seemed contrived and lame. In re-reading this post I find it to be harsh, more so than I intended. In contrast to my point of view, Amazon reader reviews rated Pony 4.6 out of 5 stars. I, however, can not seem to get over my disappointment at expecting a pony and getting a smear of manure. I shall retreat and try to recover some of my young-at-heart spirit that I appear to have lost.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Ponder: The Messy Life of Jane Tanner

When it comes to soap operas, I admit I am a bit of a snob and look down my nose at people who watch them religiously. Or watched I should say; soap operas have fazed out of popularity. Per Wikipedia 

A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers.

But I certainly have experienced the allure of getting to know a slate of characters and following them through their often dramatic and occasionally tortured life decisions. So I must sheepishly admit that I am a fan of soap opera type books in print. They tend to come in a series with a common cast of characters who oddly become my literary friends. My most recent soap opera type book is The Messy Life of Jane Tanner ©2024. It is the third book in Brenda Novak's Coyote Canyon series. 

In The Messy Life of Jane Tanner, thirty-five year old Jane owns a vintage gift shop in Coyote Canyon, cares for her grandfather with dementia, and longs for adventure and an escape from the small community of Coyote Canyon. She is single and reasons that if she has not met that special someone yet, she is not likely to do so. She is concerned that her biological clock is ticking and she wants to be a mother, even if she needs to raise that child as a single parent. Sperm banks are an option but since she would like to know about the child's father she asks Kurt, a long time friend of hers and five years her junior, if he will donate his sperm to do the job. Complications ensue. He stipulates he'd prefer to do the deed the old fashioned way and not merely hand her a vial of semen. She wonders if he has romantic feelings for her. He wonders if she has romantic feelings for him. He also wants to remain involved in the child's life, difficult to do if Jane does indeed move away from Coyote Canyon. The wavering thought processes of each make for a wry, interesting read. True, the dilemma has soap opera tendencies but that is part of the guilty pleasure.

In my defense, I think the series novels I read, although a written soap opera, are a step above stereotypical romance novels. To me, a romance novel is often - not always, but usually -  a stand alone book, where the female lead is a ditz and the male lead is a chauvinist. I have read and enjoyed the previous two novels in the Coyote Canyon series: Talulah's Back in Town (my post for 9/29/23)  and The Talk of Coyote Canyon (my post for 12/29/23) which I rated 4 stars and 2 stars respectively. 

The female leads in both books are strong independent women. Talulah owns and runs a diner/bakery. In The Talk of Coyote Canyon Ellen runs drilling rigs in the rugged Montana terrain, providing sources of water for ranchers and home owners. Since Jane, too, is a strong, committed woman, and since the characters in The Messy Life of Jane Tanner are likable and interrelate with characters in earlier books in the series, I rate The Messy Life of Jane Tanner 3 stars.

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time

Soap operas, televised or in written form, can be pleasurable escapism, even perhaps a bit addictive. Per Wikipedia 

"As the World Turns (often abbreviated as ATWT) is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. With 13,763 hours of cumulative narrative, As the World Turns has the longest total running time of any television show." 

As the World Turns was a favorite of my mother-in-law. She still remembers, and has cited with regret multiple times, that the day of a much anticipated and elaborate wedding, she missed the show because Frank was getting on braces and she sat  in the waiting room at the orthodontist. Motherly devotion trumped soap opera addiction - but just barely. Sadly her soap opera era, predated home video recorders, so she never did get to see the climactic wedding.

Ponder: The Man Who Died Twice

The Man Who Died Twice ©2021 by Richard Osman is the second book in his Thursday Murder Club Mystery series. From my 2/25/24 post about the first book:

The club is made up of four septuagenarians -- Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim -- who live in a retirement village called Coopers Chase. They meet in the Jigsaw Room weekly to solve cold case murders.  

Although I found his first book "a humorous delight to read" and rated it four stars, my opinion has changed, reading his second book of the series. The cold case murders become real-time murders not only involving the local police but also expanding to include the British intelligence spy agencies of James Bond fame MI5 (intelligence efforts inside the UK) and MI6 (countering threats from abroad). I can buy in to a couple local police officials buddying up and respecting the input of four elderly residents from an old folks' home, but pushing that scenario to include professionals from national and international agencies is going a bit too far. I have read and enjoyed books in the fantasy genre and I can suspend disbelief to enjoy them. But the Thursday Murder Club Mystery series is meant to take place in the real world with comedic twists, twists I found ludicrous.

Also cited in my 2/25/24 post is my opinion of the diary entries of Joyce in the first book:

Joyce, one of the four, keeps a diary. Her musings seem to run a bit astray sometimes and do not always advance the plot; but they certainly do evoke a chuckle or two from the reader. The diary entries are well worth including since they are a creative mechanism for not only providing a useful consolidation of facts but also delivering a delightful sprinkling of tongue-in-cheek views of the residents and suspects.

Once again I have changed my opinion. It is possible to have too much of a good thing. The diary entries in The Man Who Died Twice are too rambling and too numerous. What was once endearing, morphed to become annoying. I plodded through the second book of the series. I did finish it, only because other friends with whom I share similar literary tastes liked it. I did not. I will not be pursuing the third and fourth books of the series. I rate The Man Who Died Twice two stars.

 

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

CaliCeltic

Friday night, March 15th, Frank and I went to a performance of CaliCeltic at the Pleasanton Firehouse Arts Center. Publicity material for the group stated that "mandolin and electric guitars jangle and crunch alongside rock 'n roll drums, melodic piccolo and flute". I photographed the stage when we arrived and also noticed bells, a hand drum, a tambourine, and a banjo rounded out the eclectic and extensive array of instruments. Frank and I were in for a treat.

A fair amount o' green was worn by the St. Patrick's Day crowd. Frank and I tried our hand at selfies and realized we'd do better to take individual photos of each other. 

The music was rousing and cheerful. The flutist, who also played the piccolo, was amazing and clearly extremely talented. The sound of that wind instrument lends a haunting air to folk tunes. Since I also play the flute, it is a favorite instrument of mine. The twanging sound of a good banjo player also makes me smile. The lyrics were fun-filled. They were not always entirely intelligible but we got the gist enough to laugh and enjoy ourselves.

We learned some San Francisco history from the song Hotaling's Whiskey. In 1906 a huge earthquake hits San Francisco with mass destruction, but the song tells of the rescue of the distillery Hotaling. Per https://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2013/03/anson-hotaling-of-san-fran-god-whiskey.html

The song Hotaling's Whiskey, #5 at https://caliceltic.com/#the-music sets that poem to music and further tells the tale of the distillery's rescue. There was a last resort, but a successful one, after sea water failed to extinguish the flames. A bucket brigade filled buckets from the sewers and flung the muck upon the blaze. A verse cites that with cheers, "we saved Hotaling whisky with the product from our rears". Apparently, unbeknownst to Frank and me, Hotaling & Co. is famous to this day with a wide selection spirits.

Another catch tune that caught my fancy was The Mermaid. Typically, songs with a drinking theme can be slightly off-color at times. The Mermaid had a different theme, but managed to be off-color in the final verse. The Mermaid can be heard in its entirety at https://caliceltic.com/#the-music #18. The ditty was cute and entertaining, amusingly bawdy at the end when the mermaid's ugly sister swam by. The repeating refrain goes

The Mermaid
'Cause her hair was green as seaweed
Her skin was blue and pale
Her face it was a work of art
I loved that girl with all my heart
But I only liked the upper part
I did not like the tail.

CaliCeltic's jaunty leprechaun banner at the side of the stage was a fun decoration, adding a bit of gaiety to the evening. Frank and I had a good time. We were happy to have gone out to something nearby where the music was uplifting and even the audience itself seemed in good spirits.

Ponder: Puzzle Purse Pair

Frank and I assembled a 500 piece puzzle Tuesday night. We had just bought it at Barnes and Noble because it caught my eye, mainly due to the color combination. I tend to like peach and aqua and coral and navy.

To my surprise this morning when I looked at the butcher block table where I had placed my purse, the color similarity struck me as uncanny. I had bought this purse nearly five years ago at Disneyland on Main Street during our visit there with Grandkids mid-September 2019.

There are two interpretations of this phenomenon:

1. I like what I like, and I know it.
2. Good taste never changes.

Ponder: The Fragile Threads of Power

Although I claim I am not a fan of fantasy, I do like this author. I first read her stand alone book The Invisible Life of Addie Larue and rated it five stars in my 11/14/21 review of it. The Fragile Threads of Power ©2023 is the fifth book by V. E. Schwab I have read and greatly enjoyed. I seriously considered rating it five stars because of the plot intricacies, and the elaborate settings of three Londons (Red, Grey, and White) with various levels of magic, and the ambience of the markets (one even floating). In terms of plot intricacies, is one kingdom trying to take over another? Who is faithful and who is a traitor? Is vengeance the primary driver? Such is the basic Game of Thrones type undercurrent of the plot. Although, personally, I am notoriously politically ignorant, I could follow this scheming with relish and pleasure. The characters are plentiful and a delight (princes, kings, queens, magicians, pirates, priests, young adolescents) and the villains are dastardly.

I rated the three books in her Shades of Magic trilogy, which I read after The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, either 4 or 5 stars in my three posts, (4/28/22) (5/21/22) (5/23/22). Then I had a concern that a novice reader picking up The Fragile Threads of Power because of my five star rating for it, could subsequently be confused and disappointed. The characters within the Shades of Magic trilogy are reprised in The Fragile Threads of Power. 

As background from the Shades of Magic trilogy:
Kell is part of the royal family in Red London; he is an Antari, a blood magician, but in The Fragile Threads of Power his magic has changed. An Antari can pass through portals between the Londons. Delila Bard is a streetwise thief with a thirst for adventure and a spunky, independent attitude to go with it. She has grown from adolescence and her magic has matured. When Kell and Lila's two paths initially crossed, the two formed a bond – a bond which both of them vehemently denied; but the vehemence of denial is beginning to fade in The Fragile Threads of Power. Alucard is a privateer and has become a consort of the no-longer-prince, but-now-king, Rhy. Rhy and Kell are brothers by adoption and also bonded to either other, in a disconcerting way, by a magic spell. These characters age and morph in The Fragile Threads of Power. There are new characters introduced from other Londons. Several are mere children such as the little queen Kosika and young tinkerer Tes with her owl Vares. New villains emerge.

I am in a conundrum. When books are in a series and the same characters carry over to the next title, should the book's star rating be degraded since a new reader might be lost, having not read the precursors? Not necessarily. V. E. Schwab did an excellent job in this book to remind the reader what occurred in the previous trilogy, both in terms of plot and characters. After just a bit of head scratching, I would realize, "Oh yes, of course. I remember. That makes sense!" Plus the characters formed in the Shades of Magic trilogy are not static. They have matured, and their circumstances have also changed. The characterization in The Fragile Threads of Power is not stagnant at all. Also, there are new characters introduced, young, unique, and with inventive backgrounds and skills. The character field is creative and never dull. I look forward to their growth in what I am guessing (hoping) will be further additions to this Fragile Threads series. The swashbuckling fights scenes are riveting; the offensive and defensive moves are clever, desperate, inventive, and surprisingly effective.  

I have talked myself into it. I rate The Fragile Threads of Power five stars. If future readers have not read the previous trilogy, then they have some catching up to do for maximum enjoyment.

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

Three Redneck Tenors

Saturday night, February 17th, Frank and I attended a musical/comedy show called 3 Redneck Tenors. We did not know what to expect but decided to break out of our usual predictable show mode and try an outing that could be different and fun. The show was a fund raiser for the Livermore Valley Opera but a promised comedic aspect made us give it a try. It was enjoyable and we were glad we'd gone.

Promotional materials for the show describe 3 Redneck Tenors as follows:

What happens when you mix classically trained vocal artists from world opera stages with stand-up comedy and improv? The result is the 3 Redneck Tenors. This sensational trio will bring its one-of-a-kind musical comedy to the Bankhead Theater on February, 17, 2024 at 7:00pm for a special benefit performance. As these charismatic characters hit the stage, the audience will embark on a rollicking adventure filled with unexpected surprises, unforgettable tunes, and plenty of laughs. The 3 Redneck Tenors, with a down-home twist, combine their world-class vocal prowess with side-splitting comedy, performing music ranging from gospel, to country, to Broadway, pop and yes, classical.

Admittedly the first half was way more our speed, and the song choices were very recognizable. In fantastic harmonies and a bit of operatic style the trio started out with tunes from TV shows, Bonanza, Rawhide, The Jeffersons, among others I've already forgotten but enjoyed. They encouraged audience verbal participation with cheers and "Boo's" and "Aaw 's" and rhythmic accompaniment with clapping. They moved on to songs from musicals; Alone in the Universe from Seussical the Musical, the Impossible Dream from the Man of La Mancha, and Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera are three I remember. 

The second half had a bit more advertising and more operatic selections. They did sing the number they'd done on America Has Talent (and lost the competition). It was a version of Beethovens' Fifth. There were no words,  just 🎶 buh, buh, buh buhs 🎶 , which were bemusing and funny but certainly not award winning. Overall Frank and I enjoyed the show, and liked being out. In keeping with the redneck tone, the lobby had Ho-Ho's, Ding Dongs, and Twinkies for snacks. I did cave and eat a Ding Dong to keep in the spirit of the event. (Actually, I ate two! I hadn't had one of these in years.)

For sale in the lobby were also 3 Redneck Tenors cook books. The entire first chapter specialized in dishes made with Velveeta. I did not buy the cookbook. There were T-shirts for sale too. The back had a picture of a camper type trailer and read MOBILE HOME SCHOOLED. I did not buy the shirt either.

Encanto and Frozen Disney on Ice

Sunday, February 11th, Frank and I took Alex to see Disney on Ice, Frozen & Encanto. Yes, that was Super Bowl Sunday. I realized the conflict just a few hours after hitting that BUY tickets button on the Ticketmaster site. We recorded the game and just hoped that no one we sat by at the show would give away the score or the progress. We were safe. No one seemed to be following the football game during the show. The stadium seats were not full occupied probably because those interested in the Super Bowl were not in attendance.

We bought Alex his program as usual, and he loved thumbing through it, even, to our dismay, when the show was in full progress. But he did engage on and off and we were pleased we'd decided to come. We had not done these Disney on Ice performances in quite a few years. 

I thought Kristoff's reindeer Sven was a hoot. Remember the song...?

[KRISTOFF]
Reindeers are better than people
Sven, don't you think that's true?
(As Sven)
Yeah, people will beat you
And curse you and cheat you
Every one of them's bad except you
(As himself)
Oh, thanks buddy
But people smell better than reindeers
Sven, don't you think I'm right?
(As Sven)
That's once again true
For all except you
(As himself)
You got me, let's call it a night
(As Sven)
Good night
(As himself)
Don't let the frostbite
Bite...

The ring of fire cast on the ice during the Encanto portion was impressive.

In the grand finale it was amazing to see the entire cast of characters and costumes that had made for the enjoyment of the show.

Alex was engrossed in the show almost as much as he was in his huge tub of popcorn. But I did record one video. Not of the show but rather of Alex's jiggling foot as he kept in time to the music. We are glad we went and I think Alex was, also.

Legally Blonde Musical

Saturday, January 27th, Frank and I went to the musical Legally Blonde at our local theatre, the Bankhead. The performance was fun and high energy. We couldn't understand a fair amount of the lyrics for songs sung by the company, but the emotions and intensity came across and made us smile. Individual solos were much clearer and more distinct. Full lyrics can be found on line, for those curious enough to look at them. The plot of the musical followed the movie closely and the songs furthered the plot line and defined character roles.

👍

We enjoyed the musical enough that when we got home from the matinee performance, we located the movie Legally Blonde (2001) itself and re-enjoyed it that evening. Reese Witherspoon, as the ditsy blonde lead, proved that blondes can be quite intelligent and responsible even if they do like wearing pink and high heels, having their nails polished just so, and styling their hair to be picture perfect.

👍

A few days later we watched the movie Legally Blond 2 (2003). What a waste! The movie is an ode to women's naivety, ditsy-ness, and dumb idiosyncracies. Where Legally Blonde supported the important role women are capable of demonstrating in society, Legally Blond 2 negates all that positive image building. Plus, Sally Fields plays the bad guy. That is totally inappropriate for Gidget and the Flying Nun.

👎

Ponder: The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club ©2020 by Richard Osman is a humorous delight to read. The club is made up of four septuagenarians -- Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim -- who live in a retirement village called Coopers Chase. They meet in the Jigsaw Room weekly to solve cold case murders. Amongst themselves, they possess a variety of special talents from before they retired that work together amazingly well, enabling them solve murders. Add in the skill sets of their grown children, or all the unique connections of the contacts they'd cultivated during their careers, and they are an amazingly efficient sleuth force to be reckoned with. Not all the crimes are cold cases such as the stabbing one they initially explore from the past. Recently and currently, there is a bludgeoning, a shooting, and a poisoning that the quartet analyze with calm aplomb. 

Joyce, one of the four, keeps a diary. Her musings seem to run a bit astray sometimes and do not always advance the plot; but they certainly do evoke a chuckle or two from the reader. The diary entries are well worth including since they are a creative mechanism for not only providing a useful consolidation of facts but also delivering a delightful sprinkling of tongue-in-cheek views of the residents and suspects.  

The retirement setting was especially engaging for me. My husband and I, both septuagenarians ourselves, have been considering such a relocation for ourselves. Coopers Chase with Willow, its accompanying nursing home for the village, are the very model for the site we are thinking about. The entire Chapter 3 describes Coopers Chase to the extent I thought the author may have been inspired by the brochure for the place we've been considering except that Coopers Chase is on the site of a former convent. An excerpt from Chapter 3 reads:

Beside the swimming pool is a small "arthritis therapy pool" which looks like a Jacuzzi largely for the reason it is a Jacuzzi. ...Take the lift up to the recreation rooms next -- the gym and the exercise studio, where residents could happily Zumba among the ghosts of the single beds. Then there's the Jigsaw Room for gentler activities and associations. There's the library, and the lounge for the bigger and more controversial committee meetings, or for football on the big flat-screen TV. Then down again to the ground floor where the long low tables of the convent refractory are now the "contemporary upscale restaurant."

The Thursday Murder Club is the first in a series of four books. I am definitely going to seek out the other three to read. Per https://books.org/blog/richard-osman-books-in-order/

I rate The Thursday Murder Club four stars, subtracting one star because of the limited demographic of its audience. Amazon readers gave The Thursday Murder Club a 4.3 out of 5 rating, even though it was a New York Times best selling book, probably for the same reader based reason. 

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

I enjoyed this book and have put myself on the library waitlist for the second one, The Man Who Died Twice. And there is indeed a waitlist.

Ponder: Mother-Daughter Murder Night

Mother-Daughter Murder Night © 2023 by Nina Simon is a sleuth tale worth investigating. The three generations of female characters and the unique setting were the best parts for me. There is 15 year old Jacqueline, her mother Beth, and Beth's mother Lana. Beth and her daughter live in the sloughs of Monterey County, CA and Lana comes to join them when she becomes ill. Jack calls her grandmother Prima, and Lana is indeed a bit of a prima donna. A prima donna and a shack in the middle of a marsh are not an ideal mix, but the combination does make for an amusing side interest.

Lana is a high-powered, formidable, ambitious, fiercely-independent real estate business woman. She is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and must reluctantly come to live with her daughter for assistance. Her haute couture clothes and fashionista high heels are not a good blend for a rustic cottage in the slough, but she preserves her image and her self-designed persona despite debilitating cancer treatments. Beth is a caring nurse for the geriatric in a senior living facility and has raised her daughter since birth as a single mom. Beth is in a close relationship with her daughter and in a rocky relationship with her mother. Teenager Jack loves the outdoors and wildlife and has a job as a tour guide, kayaking and paddle boarding among the marshlands. When a dead body is found stream-side during one of her tours she is initially a suspect in the murder.

Lana springs into action to prove her granddaughter's innocence. She converts her aggressive business savvy into actions investigating the murder. Beth is inadvertently dragged into the sleuthing when one of her geriatric patients is found dead. Death is not an unusual occurrence given the age of the residents of the facility but could these two deaths be related?

Mother-Daughter Murder Night is full of surprises starting with the very first page. The author's style is very captivating; her twists in conversation and unexpected character actions challenge the reader on his assumptions. The mystery in the convoluting plot and accompanying logic do hold together well. Mysteries are not usually my first genre of choice, but in Mother-Daughter Murder Night, figuring out "whodunnit" made for an engrossing, entertaining read. This novel is Nina Simon's first. I will be on the watch for her future works.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Visions of Christmas 2023

We generally keep our Christmas decorations up until January 6th which is noted as the Epiphany, the day of the three kings visit, the twelfth day of Christmas. As we are putting away the last of the Christmas decorations, my husband reminded me I had not posted pictures for Christmas this year. We had a whole slew of company at Thanksgiving, so visitors this Christmas were minimal and our Christmas Day was quiet with just my husband Frank, my son Alex, and me. Christmas 2023 was still festive and so here is our house decor and Christmas memories. The memories are in pictorial form for historical completeness. After all, one picture is worth 1000 words

The welcoming wreath on the front door, the snow people sentinels in the living room by the tree, the Christmas car themed area behind the couch, the Grinch area at the edge of the dining room, and the Santa chair in the family room:

Sign posts at the corners to direct:

On overview of the living room from the dining room with Simple Gifts quilt draped over a chair, and the stairway to the second floor with metal house filled with balls and trinkets:

The light fixture over the dining room table trimmed with Mickey Mouse ornaments, the vintage candy tin village on the table, a newly acquired train set journeying around the village, and the three stockings for Frank, Diane, and Alex on the chair backs.

Three nativities and Santas on the piano:









Stuffed ornaments scattered all over the house:



Alex and Frank operating the train on Christmas Eve:







Opening gifts on Christmas Day: Alex with his two banks, Frank with one of his puzzles, Diane with a Winnie the Pooh denim shirt:

Christmas night on our visit to Deacon Dave's ... a very festive and bright way to end the day.

Merry Christmas 2023!