Christmas, 2005, with family at Merced, California

Let me count my fingers... lets see... 1 + 1, carry the 1, plus add the 2, divide the 3... let's see... Well, it all adds up to the fact that I hadn't had Christmas off work for five years. Yes, I have one of those dumb jobs that's a 24/7 thing, and they seem to expect you to show up on holidays. Well, I could go on about that, but that's another subject. However, it had been months, too many months, since I'd seen my immediate family, who reside in the now university-oriented community of Merced, in the heart of California's wonderful San Joaquin Valley, and when the schedule of my family coincided with mine, a trip to Merced was penciled into my calendar. Unfortunately, due to other engagements, my lovely wife Sharlene was unable to accompany me, so I had to make the trip alone. However, when you visit family, you're never alone.

Left: Early Christmas morning, Emily and Elizabeth, a.k.a. "Lizzy," open presents... yawn. Right: Emily, Elizabeth and Michael orchestrate the ritual of opening Christmas presents.

Yes, I grew up in Merced, but that was many years ago when Merced was a sleepy farming town with a population, counting the dogs, reached around 15,000. Now, it's a bustling community of around 70,000 and, just newly opened is the University of California, Merced campus. The University really puts Merced on the map! As a native son of Merced, I have my opinions concerning growth, as I would prefer to see Merced the same as it was, say, about... 1965. However growth seems to occur in California, and if a small town snags a university, I suppose that's a good thing.

I had the opportunity to stay at my brother Michael''s place, which was a treat, since I hadn't seen his place since he and his beautiful wife Margie had the place remodeled. Boy, what a place! As far as being impressed, I'm torn between the raised ceilings and the beverage center. Pretty impressive!

Left: Elizabeth, Margie and Michael open presents. Right: Emily, the present queen, examines a new present.

So it was up and at 'em early Christmas morning to open presents. My darling niece, Emily, had thoughtfully, left milk and cookies for Santa, plus veggies for the reindeers and a "Dear Santa note" , which we discovered, were consumed. We assumed that Emily had been a good girl all year, as she was rewarded with lots of presents and nice stuff in her presents, instead of a lump of coal. Way to go, girl!

Left: Digitally-enhanced, albeit stricken with noise, Emily and Elizabeth display presents. Right: Elizabeth and Margie proudly present the Christmas bounty.

Yawn, I didn't mention it, but we got up at 0630 to open presents, as we had a date at Greg and Bonnie's place at 0800. Presents, presents, and more presents. Fun, fun, and more fun.

Left: Bonnie, Paul, Owen and Lauren are working to put together the robot that my brother-in-law, Greg, received as a Christmas gift. Right: Right Owen and sister Lauren, work on the robot. Hey, here's a plug: Owen is the webmaster of a fine website known as sermolux.com, and you should check it out!

Darn, I had to leave early on Christmas morning, as I had obligation at home in Roseville, a 2-1/2 hour drive from Merced, yet worlds away.

Left: Owen attempts to put the robot togetner, while Bonnie and Paul supervise the operation. Right: Michael and daughter Lizzie are in the kitchen, and are in the process of serving Christmas cookies. By the way, Lauren made the Christmas cookies and they were excellent!

Christmas 2005 was wonderful, and the best part of the holiday was getting to spend time with my family, who, due to work and other issues, I seldom see. So it was awesome to spend Christmas eve at Merced.

I'm not trying to make this write-up sound like a politital commentary so if that offends you, I'm sorry. Basically, since Christmas 2005 is over, I want to wish you a happy 2006, and I hope the new year treats you well.

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