Maggie's Farm

A happy flock of Robins descended on ye olde HQ and stripped all our our holly shrubs and trees of their berries. (Photo above is Robins eating old apples.)

Our church was half-full on Christmas Eve. I believe many people were there online (we stream our services). Covid fears.

A friend gave an ageing relative a voice recorder for an oral history. It's not exactly a present except that it is an opportunity for the relative to hand down a gift of the past. Inspired us to do that with my father in law - he's an Irish shanachie and can tell all of the old stories. My life stories would be dull...

Yes, the old guy has COVID but it has not been bad other than the quarantine his residence requires. I assume omicron because he is triple-vaxed. Picked it up in some pub or restaurant. Can't keep a good man down.

Our wild and crazy NY Eve event was supper at a Thai place. I had 2 glasses of cheap Chardonnay with some max-hot Pad Thai with shrimp. 

Taking advantage of the slow week, we got our boat fully-registered and legal at the DMV. They were nice. We were already registered as a US Vessel by the Coast Guard, but needed that too. Paperwork. 

Ever tried building Legos 8 1/2 level? Not easy.

Our Christmas gifts were mostly tickets - Met Opera, Carnegie Hall, NYC Ballet. Oh - boutique hotel rooms too. Nice. I was afraid that my wife would give me a new iphone, but luckily she didn't. Have I mentioned that I love visiting NYC?

I saw in the Orvis Christmas catalog fly rods costing $1500.  Fly-fishing is a beautiful hobby but I do not need that. 

Bulldog and I need to plan a Maggie's urban hike for 2022.  This planning will be tough because we have already covered so much interesting territory, in rain and shine, over the years. We'll also plan a family+friends mountain hike - everybody wants to do Breakneck Ridge again (except Mrs. BD who has never loved rock scrambling)  

A semi-long read by an expert on disgust: How Disgust Explains Everything

A Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to all of our readers and to all of our contributors, with thanks for being part of our humble Yankee enterprise

(No innocent trees were murdered for this card to compensate for murdering our Christmas tree)

I've been to a bunch of parties and some fancy parties this season, and heard some great music too, but the best was a neighborhood caroling get-together Friday night - adults and kids. Good food and drinks with around an hour of singing practice around the piano (divvying up the voices of the wise men, the soloist for O Holy Night, etc), then out tramping around and driving around in the dark to our target audiences. Shut-ins, an old friend and WW 2 Navy vet with Alzheimer's, guys on the job, friendly families. Mrs. BD feels that this neighborhood event is the most Christmassy thing we ever do.

I can guarantee that none of the kids who participate will ever forget it. Maybe they will pass it on when they grow up. Hope so. Fine traditions of family, friends, community, and faith do matter because they become embedded in our souls like little candlelights, lighting our dark corners through our entire lives.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell,
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel.  

I enjoy a nice party despite my natural shyness. The festivities began this week in my neck of the woods. I was at a fairly good one Friday night, and two last night. Some nights one has to party-hop, which I think is rude to do but also rude not to show up when invited. Not my fault that I am so popular... Yes, they had the traditional soft-boiled quail eggs on toasts with caviar on top. Dynamite.

I got this snapshot last night at a hot party before I was overwhelmed by lonely, hot, nubile females. Saturnalia, Bacchanalia, Holiday Season - whatever you call it. A good female/satyr ratio as you can see.

Christmastime is as secular or religious as one chooses. Seems quite secular to many. For me, both.

I have never seen his movies, but most people have. Call me what you will, I just do not want those images in my brain.

This is good:  Brutal and Unreformed—Sam Peckinpah’s ‘Straw Dogs’ at 50

Via Schneiderman (altho I doubt the provenance - too many typos)

Last time we checked (I do not know how we did it), our readership was 60/40% men/women. Also, but not relevant to the topic, our average age of readership was 45. I have no idea about how to get such stats now and it doesn't matter.

Let's say you are a guy, and you know your wife "needs" a Prada bag.  Get her one. She can exchange it if she doesn't like it. Ha - reader reminds me that they are free in San Francisco. Cool.

Readers know from past postings that we prefer tickets and trips for presents (with the very rare exceptions of my birthday car and her birthday boat - no more of that is likely cuz her new bedroom fireplace is last on that list). Opening presents is mainly for kids except for diamonds and gold.

One thing anybody might like as a present is a hiking trip. Montana is great, so is Sedona or the Dolomites. Or just the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Backroads has tons of good hiking or biking tours ($), but we really got a kick out of our Wilderness Scotland Outer Hebrides trip. Small (10) group from all over the world, energetic people but not kids, superb Scots guide, semi-rustic places to stay. Kippers and Haggis for breakfast. Bring rain gear.

Carpe diem. Life is short.

Via NYROB, a new, beautifully edited volume of Robert Frost’s letters finds him at the height of his artistic powers while suffering a series of losses almost unimaginable to the fortunate among us.

Inverness has several shops which sell waxed jackets. They sell models that are more for working purposes rather than the more style-oriented ones available in the US. If any place in the world is right for a Barbour or similar brands, it is Scotland.

Gore-tex made waxed clothing obsolete, more or less, but people still like it. What is not widely-known is that Gore-Tex, over time, loses its waterproofing effect and you have to replace the item. Waxed cotton and waxed canvas can be re-proofed. I have waxed canvas Filson hunting pants, waxed canvas hunting brush chaps, a Barbour, maybe something else too. Damn things are heavy to wear compared to Gore Tex.

If these things get too dirty or muddy on the outside, you just brush then off or hose it off with cold water. But what about when the lining gets sweaty and smelly? Ideally it won't because of the other stuff you are wearing, but if you want to clean it out, how?

I read up on the topic. The only way to do it that protects the wax is to hose down the lining with cold water. No soap, etc - just cold water.  Let it soak, then hose it again and let it air-dry. That's all you can do until the jacket needs re-proofing, at which time the company cleans the lining too.