esrosedotblog

CARDED

I did the holiday cards today. A tradition. Every year, the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The pile gets way smaller every year.

People drop out. We drop out.

I am down to 39 domestic and 3 international. It used to be over a hundred.

Part of this is that we do not send cards locally. We never have. So our cards are and were all out of towners .

If I can't see the locals to say happy this or that then they just get missed but usually I see most people or email or call or something.

I think that real cards are going to disappear anyway. We get some ecards. I don't count them although I send e-cards for birthdays.

It is a nice traditional way to say hello to some acquaintances. Some people have been on there for a long time.

One second cousin. The only belly button family left.

A few friends still in Massachusetts. A few have moved to Florida. The Virgin Islands. Places we could be if we hadn't decided on here.

We send a similar card every year. A fat Santa and his deer around a swimming pool or something like that. Very Palm Springs.

No snow. No everygreens. This is our winter now.

An interesting side benefit of the holiday cards is exploring our address book.

John is in charge of that and he has never, ever taken anyone out of it. There they are. All the people we ever saw and met on vacations. The people that we used to be neighbors with. The relatives we don't connect with anymore (John has 4 or 5 he is still connected to but he is southern).

Many are dead.

It is a memory jogger par excellence. A once a year experience that is good for the soul.

It is also a reminder of how transient relationships can be. You are here. You are gone. Me too.

I am still here if anyone wants me.

If you don't get one of our cards, happy holidays from Palm Springs.