Birthdays, anniversaries are back

While strolling, I wondered whatever happened to Jim Joseph Ward.

Happy New Year!

The birthdays and anniversaries are back, by popular demand! Because of space limitations, we ask that you keep us apprised of changes so we can keep our calendar current. Email me or leave a message.

Happy birthday this week to Mallory Siebert, Bonnie Haney, Danny Lee Finley, Sue Ann Lynn, Kristen Wessel, Tina Jones, Kathryn Miller, Roger Simpson, Annie Ralph, John Hampton, Larry Kirn, Sue Wessel, Myrtle Slack, Sara Hemingway, Danny Rains, Terra Owens, Kodi Ballard, Alissa Swindell, Sonny Leible, Cathy Graham, Brooke McFerron, Wilma McGuire, Rachel Reischmann, Stephen Bentley, Kimberly Hester, Rose Kern, Amanda Proctor, Larry Mott, Randy Coy, Sid Atkins, Kade Atkins, Brennan Robinson, Marlene Powers, Tina Horton, Eric McDowell, Edward Renaud, Mark Schultz, Theodore Westrich, Joe Bob Cobb, Linda Wessel, Marc Sadler, Corrie Montgomery, Angela Holland, Clay Moore and Becky Smith.

Happy anniversary to Jeremy and Mallory Dohogne and Mick and Linda Wessel.

Today Earth is at its closest point to the sun, known as perihelion, the opposite of aphelion. We are also enjoying the first full moon of this New Year. January's moon is called the Winter Moon, Ice Moon, Wolf Moon and Moon of the Terrible.

If you need a 2015 calendar, there is none better than the Missouri Department of Conservation's Natural Events Calendar. It is available at the Cape Girardeau Nature Center. It is full of wonderful information and great pictures, although most of us could do without the one featured for January -- a big fox squirrel! We see enough of those in our yards eating our pecans and birdseed.

City Hall wishes everyone a Happy New Year! They remind us that City Council elections are April 7. Candidates can file at City Hall until the cutoff date of Jan. 20. The filing fee is $1, and each of the four wards has an opening. The council meets the first and third Mondays of each month and you can check out all the action tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Birthday boys

We celebrated Richard's birthday the 30th, and Elvis Presley fans will be celebrating his birthday Jan. 8. Forever young in our hearts, Elvis would have turned 80. Birthday cake will be served in his birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi, and at Graceland. You can even live-stream the 9:30 a.m. cake cutting at graceland.com.

A few shared their signature word for 2015. They include kindness, contentment, strive and joy. Let me know what your signature word is. I had pretty much decided on mine, which was confirmed after Richard and I couldn't find our big red bow that we use on special gifts. My word is "streamline." Some of the things I plan to streamline along with the Christmas wrap and decorations are closets, bookcases, my workout at the gym and Chaffee Chatters birthday list!

Playoff season

The playoffs are here! The St. Louis Rams gave it a good shot last weekend on the road against the Seattle Seahawks but many of us were especially proud of former Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniels with the Kansas City win over the San Diego Chargers.

This was his second game as starting quarterback in the NFL and he proved the naysayers wrong. For Cowboy fans, how about those Cowboys? They host the Detroit Lions this afternoon and will not have to deal with dirty Lion's player and repeat offender, Suh, who was suspended one game for intentionally stepping on Green Bay Aaron Rodgers' injured leg; many feel he should also get a hefty fine.

Regifting? Goodwill?

Richard and I were in Waco for his family's delayed Christmas gathering and managed to watch most of the games amid the opening of gifts. They play a game in which numbers are drawn and each person chooses a wrapped gift as their number is called. Before opening a gift, a person can "steal" an opened gift from another. The game was a new one to me all those years ago, and the notorious regifting queen was up to her old tricks with Goodwill being the end recipient.

Among the many resolutions people make, which include losing holiday pounds and getting organized, some of us have reading lists. After completing a book written by Chris Buckley about his dad, Wm. F. Buckley, I am skipping a couple of books in my queue to read "Scavengers," a mystery/suspense novel written by author Paul Hennrich of Jackson. Raised in Southern Illinois, his book "Definitions" was the first in his Kent Baker series about the semiretired former DEA agent. The books, available on Amazon.com, are especially interesting since the action occurs in our neck of the woods.

Special words

Remember to tell those special people in your life you love them -- those three words mean so very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with those missing loved ones and continue to be with our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes.

We wish you all good things in 2015 and welcome your comments. You can email me at darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at 573-887-6430 or 214-207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was the return of the birthdays!