Feathered friends have their own feast; remembering our veterans

While strolling, I wondered whatever happened to Nora Lee Powers.

Happy birthday to Jill Hodge, Allen Cox, Brenda Swain, Julie Prindle, Betty Vandeven, Diane Eftink, Christa Beck, Jodi Pfefferkorn, Tony Swain, Kelly Burnett, Shirley Mobley, Billy Simmons, Doug Mirly, Bob Sullivan, Alex Stone, Bradley Uhrhan, Kim Wagoner, Kevin Lape, Leroy Uhrhan, Daniel Rains, Christina Daniels, Jason Ourth, Scott Hendix and August Asmus.

Happy 41st anniversary to Danny and Joyce Loucks.

Some of our favorite feathered friends have returned for the winter. Recent sightings in our yard include a junco and a red-breasted nuthatch. There are lots of goldfinches now sporting their winter plumage and white wingbars, feasting on black oil sunflower seeds.

Eagle Days are scheduled at various conservation areas, and in Chaffee, they are a frequent sight.

Thanks to Helping Hands

The holidays are a time of giving, and there are always those who help others throughout the year as well. A reader says they are angels in disguise, specifically naming Helping Hands, which recently spent several hours fixing up, cleaning up, cheering up a recently widowed, disabled person who has been desperately trying to obtain assistance. The reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, says Helping Hands are a pleasure to know and thanks them for a job well done.

There are lots of holiday traditions, whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas, and we invite you to share your favorites.

My tradition of releasing a bright red balloon into the beautiful blue sky on my mother's birthday continues. This year, I chose Lake Tywappity as the launch site.

Thanksgiving traditions

My sister Jo and her husband joined us for Thanksgiving, and she and I continued our tradition of Sister Day Wednesday. One activity we always look forward to is visiting the Yule Log Cabin. Jo and I exchange ornaments we purchase there, and I always buy a special ornament I think my mother would have liked to place on the tree.

There is always much preparing in advance for Thanksgiving dinner, and when it comes to the turkey, we often have the discussion of brining or not, bagging or not. This year I wrapped it in parchment paper a la Martha Stewart. It was delicious, and I plan a repeat next time around. I also made my Aunt Mardell's (Finney) oyster dressing. I told her son, Norman "Tyke," and he recalled how good it was and how his dad, Doc Finney, made oyster stew.

Have you tried Doritos Loaded available in the freezer section? Yummy! For most of us, it is back to lean eating to prepare our overly-fed bodies for the delightful Christmas goodies.

Last weekend's cold, rainy weather wasn't conducive to getting outdoor Christmas decorations in place, but soon Circle Park, downtown streets and homes all will be aglow.

Rainy-day accomplishments

The dreary weekend, however, was a good time to stay in and take on indoor chores. Richard handsomely recovered my piano bench, and one of my activities, other than watching football, was cleaning the upstairs bedrooms. I thought how each of us four girls was responsible for keeping our bedroom clean back in the day. Now I get to clean all four, plus the downstairs. Each of us had an assigned step on the staircase where Mother would place our clean laundry and such, which we were required to carry up to our bedroom.

November was the NFL's Salute to Service, and our veterans and active military were especially honored at every game.

Many of us thought about our dads, uncles, family members and friends who served and are no longer with us. I still have my brother Wayne's Army uniform, complete with the pinks he proudly kept through the years. I unzipped the garment bag recently and touched his uniform, which is still in fine condition. I recalled his telling me about coming face to face with a Japanese soldier in a creek bed during World War II. He said they locked eyes with one other, each showing the fear they felt in their guts, and then lowered their bayonets and went their separate ways with no harm to the other.

Special words

Remember to tell those special people in your life that you love them -- those three words mean so very much.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing loved ones, our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes and those undergoing cancer treatments.

Email your news and comments to darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at (573) 887-6430 or (214) 207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was the NFL's bad officiating.