Editor's Corner

By Mary E. Adair

We hope everyone had as delightful a Thanksgiving as we did. My First-Born's baby boy, now grown and a family man, took said family, Leo and myself back to his mom's for the celebration. While there other friends joined us and a great meal was enjoyed by all. First time someone else has done the driving in awhile; but coming home in one of the rare spells of weather for our area which produced a snowstorm made this one happy to be a passenger. That was both beautiful and scary. When we arrived home, traces of the white stuff remained on branches and roof tops, but most was already soaked into our thirsty desert sand.

Now plans are up in the air about Christmas. We've noticed that when we take a vacation, the chores don't and it seems to take forever to catch up again. However family will be arriving from out of state, and the desire to be there to welcome them really is strong. They don't make it down every year.

Luckily our authors didn't seem to be as torn with decisions as your editor, and this issue has some great info and pleasurable reading, to begin:

LC Van Savage is in the lead with "Consider This" column discussing pet peeves, while one of her articles this time is "Gun Noises." The other one "Halo, Everybody, Halo" is quite personal. We won't spoil the surprise for you.

Leo C. Helmer aka leocthasme offers us his column, "Cookin' With Leo;" his "Great Jobs chapter 13 - A Promotion So I Stayed Put" and another segment of Historical Western Swing featuring Texas Milton Brown, and an update on the Light Crust Doughboys this issue.

Eric Shackle entertains us with both article "12 Days of Christmas" and his "Eric Shackle Column." Eric's timely article and his column include some interesting links.

Thomas O'Neill delights us with one of his lifetime tales, honoring a Polish man whose life is inspiring.

Mattie Lennon lets us in on what's new in the music world circa Ireland, and available here as well.

Gerard Meister in a bit of a departure for him carries an article by someone else to underline his own feelings on the subject. Be sure to read "Thinking Out Loud" to hear this one.

John I. Blair shares six poems with us, each thoughtful, and presenting a different way to look at the subject with the following: "Roots," "Road Trip," "Renewal Rite," "Operetta," "Memories Are," and "Last Supper."

Bruce Clifford also has six poems with "'Tis a Pity," "The Bottom Line," "Last of the Living Trolls," "It's Never The Same," "Inside Your Eyes," and "Butterfly in the Sun" in his list.

Your editor has two poems for December with similar themes but written a few years apart. "One Plea Today" written in August of 1998, and "Trail" composed on November 28, a couple days ago. That theme is touched on in another composition -- O'Neil's column. So also does that column touch the sad memory of WWII brutalities echoed in Blair's "Operetta."

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We wish you a Merry Christmas, and once again will give the link to the Christmas poem we wrote several years ago. It is practically a tradition now for Tiny Miracle to appear in the December issue.

Next month, January, is the end of our Volume year, so we hope to have an issue filled with aspirations for the new calendar year, a few memories of times past, and even a resolution or two. See you then!