From A Bird's Eye View

WE PLAN, GOD LAUGHS

February 6, 2017By Sparrow/WatsonComments:21 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

This blog was supposed to be about Santa Fe. I had planned a trip there last weekend to attend a birthday bash for one of my closest friends. I planned to eat a lot, drink too much and soak in the sites. I planned to roast her with a birthday tribute and re-connect with old friends. Those were my plans. But on the Tuesday prior to the event the honoree’s 45 year-old daughter died of a pulmonary embolism. Suddenly, our plans changed. Instead of flying off for a fun, celebratory weekend in Santa Fe, we were boarding a plane to Chicago to attend funeral services. Oh, how quickly our lives can change.

As we reach “senior status” it becomes more common to experience loss. In the last five years both my brother and I have lost our mother and our childhood best friend. Numerous friends have lost spouses or are supporting them through life-changing illnesses. Somehow we expect to encounter these events as we grow older. But losing a 45 year-old, in the prime of her life, happily married and with a 12 year-old daughter just seems so wrong. It is wrong. And it is a good reminder that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us.

That notion was hammered home to me many years ago when a friend lost her husband to cancer at an early age. After his diagnosis she lamented, “I think about all the hours I stayed at the office doing busy work when I could have gone home. I wish I had those hours back.” Her sincere regret about her prioritization had a profound affect on me. After that I never spent more time at work than I needed to. I resisted the “how late did you work last night?” competition that seemed to pervade every workplace. I had seen first-hand the downside of that game. It was a good – if painful – lesson on making sure those around us know how important they are. It’s why, as sappy as it sounds, I never leave the house without telling my husband that I love him and I end each day by telling Dash the Wonder Dog how much I appreciate all that he does for us. Dogs don’t live nearly as long as they should. But then again, neither do some very good people.

My friend’s life is forever changed and those who care about their family are also struggling to make some sense of it. I think most people when faced with these horrible events take some stock. It’s a good reminder that we can’t take anything for granted. All of our checklists, day planners and to-do lists can be just wishful thinking. And it’s a wake-up call (at least for me) on how we spend time. It’s too easy to get sucked into surfing the internet on the iPad or watching dog videos. It’s also worth remembering that not all things – or all people – are worth our time. We need to make each day count, spent with people and activities than enrich, rather than detract. For me the only small way that I can think of to pay tribute to a life lost too soon is to cherish every day I’m given and live it to the fullest.

Rest in peace, dear Staci D’Ancona Levy.

Posted in opinion

Heroes

January 30, 2017By Sparrow/WatsonComments:8 Comments

Recently I was on a conference call at work, the subject of which was marketing to seniors; we were referred to an outline of a book by Dan Kennedy entitled, No BS Guide to Marketing to Lending Edge Boomers & Seniors: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Take No Prisoners Roadmap to the Money. Quite a long title and I was to later learn that the only thing worth remembering is the ‘BS’. As a senior (I’m not sure if I’m a ‘Leading Edge’ senior, but I thought I had a pretty good idea of what works in marketing to me and my peers), so I listened and read the outline with particular interest.

There is a section in the book that talks about our heroes and that people selling to us should be aware of who our heroes are and talk them up when possible or at least don’t degrade them during your communication with seniors. I couldn’t wait to see the list. When I saw the list, I was waiting for the punch line, this couldn’t be real! Who was on the list of heroes you ask? John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sally Field, Oprah and Meryl Streep. These are people that we supposedly ‘identify’ with. Really?!!! Five very polarizing people – 2 very conservative male actors and 3 very liberal female entertainers. I thought this list was totally contrived. I identify with none of these people and they are certainly not on my list of heroes. So I wondered whether I was out of step with my generation or the author was, so I did a little research on the author, Dan Kennedy.

I quickly learned that he felt very highly of himself as being a ‘leading edge’ Boomer. In his book introduction he states, “I have, and in random rotation drive, three classic automobiles including a Rolls-Royce convertible previously owned by Dean Martin. I also have a stable full of Standardbred race horses and two homes, blah, blah, blah”. He goes on to liken himself to Paul Newman, who used to race automobiles as a hobby, while Dan harness races for fun. He then says, “I am the gold standard for seniors, if you can figure out how to successfully sell to me and satisfy me as a customer, you can open the vault to all boomer and senior gold . . .”

I guess I should have been impressed, but I’m typically more impressed with people who don’t have to tell me how wonderful they are, but still I wondered where he got his list of heroes and was he out of step or was I? So I sent an email blast to about 25 of my peers asking them who their heroes were and to send me at least one male and one female ‘hero’. I said nothing else, I didn’t give them the list of five that Kennedy put forward, no coaching, no prodding, just give me your heroes. The results are in and my initial reaction to Kennedy’s list was justified and my faith in our generation renewed. Four key findings from my survey:

The most popular response was a parent or parents or grandparents
Many cited heroes that were just people they knew, ordinary people who did extraordinary things to make this world a better place in which to live.
Five world leaders were named: Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela, George H W Bush, Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill
Not a single actor, actress or entertainer was named!

Other ‘heroes’ named included: Jesus Christ, Condoleezza Rice, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, Pat Tillman, Carly Fiorina, Thomas Sowell, Dr. Ben Carson, Clarence Thomas, Anne Frank, Rosa Parks, John Glenn, Alan Shepard and Sally Ride.

Hero groups: Navy Seals, Mercury 7 astronauts, anyone in the armed forces

Thank you to those who participated in the survey!

I realize that my sampling was very small, but I’d bet Mr. Kennedy’s Rolls-Royce (then maybe I’d be a Leading Edge Senior) that if he actually did the survey, instead of providing his own BS that he wouldn’t find many entertainers as heroes for our generation.

Care to chime in? We’d love to hear who your heroes are.

Posted in opinion

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

January 23, 2017By Sparrow/WatsonComments:20 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

We bought a new mattress last week. For those of you who have not ventured into the nightmare that is mattress shopping I have one piece of advice – DON”T. We put off buying one as long as we could but my aching back required some relief. Thus began the “mattresses shopping experience”. I have to admit, a lot has changed since we bought our last mattress 17 years ago. The Mattress Manufacturers Association suggests you buy a new one every 8-10 years. So we were a little overdue. We did buy one of those foam mattress toppers about eight years ago which over time has developed a decidedly large hump down the middle. It looks like we’re trying to hide an elephant. My husband has been perfectly comfortable with this situation but I think “the hump” was getting to him too.

So on a rainy Sunday afternoon we traipsed down to our local mattress store. I did a bit of research ahead of time – I was not going to let some slick salesman bamboozle me into buying more mattress than I needed. I was under the naïve impression that reading Consumer Reports would protect me from being the lamb going to slaughter. I was wrong. The first thing I learned is that there is a very wide variety of mattresses out there – coil, hybrid, foam, pillow top, gel, water, memory foam, and latex. If you’re interested in buying a horsehair mattress for $100,000 that’s available too. It’s a dizzying array and then to make matters worse, once you decide on the type of mattress you then have to zero on the “firmness”. Ah…and there’s the rub, so to speak. What is firm to one person is soft to the next. What is firm for one brand is medium-firm for another. We found ourselves flopping down on mattresses like flounder on a ship’s deck. And this is probably the place to mention that lying on a bed with your spouse, trying to replicate your actual sleeping positions while a salesman looms over you, is quite awkward. Only to be outdone when the salesman puts you on a mattress with a moveable foundation. There we were, lying on the mattress with him at the end of the bed wielding the remote control like a mad scientist. Our legs and feet and shoulders were moving all over the place. Then he started the massage feature. I hated it. It had all the soothing qualities of those massage beds you used to find in cheap hotels where you inserted a quarter and the mattress jumped around for five minutes. But I must say I loved the idea of being able to sit up while reading in bed. And the salesman, assessing our age, also noted helpfully that if one of us was ever incapacitated the mechanics of the bed would help us get out and on our feet easier. We could choose from dual mattresses with individual controls or one big mattress. And that’s where we ran into problems. How would we handle Dash?

Despite my early intentions that our dog would never sleep on the bed, Dash and my husband conspired against me. Dash now has a full-size pillow right between us at night. I have to admit, I love hearing his breathing and he is always cuddling so now I wouldn’t think of kicking him out. My husband has gone so far as to say he’d kick me out before the dog. It’s always nice to know your station in life. But…back to the mattress. The problem with dual control is that there is a huge split down the middle of the bed – right where Dash sleeps. The one big mattress with one control is – in my opinion – just another way to fight with your spouse. Since everything moves at once you have to be in perfect agreement about when to stop reading so you can lower the bed. I don’t know about your house but in ours we seldom turn off the light at the same time. So all I could envision were endless arguments about bed raising/lowering and we have enough trouble just agreeing on the thermostat setting.

After trying out so many beds we were as confused as when we walked in. I discovered that testing mattresses is a lot like wine tasting – after a while you have a tough time distinguishing between them. Finally, we were, in fact, bamboozled by the salesman’s pitch and purchased the Tempurpedic mattress that can sense our body temperature, understand our pressure points, and adapt to our weight (good luck with that, buddy!). It was twice the price of my first new car. They will be delivering it this week and all I can say is – I hope Dash is happy.

Posted in News • opinion

Postcards and Postscripts

January 16, 2017By Sparrow/WatsonComments:8 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

You would have had to be living in a cave for the last several weeks to not have seen a tribute or two about Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, after their passing on Dec 27th and 28th of last year. We were reminded of how Debbie, at 19 and with zero dancing experience, partnered up with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Conner to create one of the most beloved musicals of all time, Singing in the Rain. She went on to have a number of successes as an actress, singer and businesswoman. But for my money, Carrie was the most talented one in that family.

I was first introduced to Carrie Fisher not in Star Wars, which came out in 1977 (and I didn’t see until sometime in the 90s), but by my dearly departed amigo, Don Klapperich, while he was in Saudi Arabia. We were not only sending music and audio cassette tapes back and forth to one another (prior to Al Gore inventing the Internet), but also our writing efforts in the hopes of publishing something. After reading a few samples of my efforts he recommended that I read the novel Postcards from the Edge (1987) by Carrie Fisher, that that seemed like the writing style I was trying to master. I read the book and loved it and of course he was right, it was indeed a style that I have tried to emulate without really knowing it . . . and without really much success.

Carrie followed Postcards, which was turned into a movie starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep , with a number of other novels, all of which had semi-autobiographical themes, as the heroine usually had a number of issues from which Carrie suffered – bipolar disorder, alcoholism and drug addiction. She has also written some non-fiction books, the best in my opinion is Wishful Drinking, which she subsequently turned into a one-woman show that she performed to rave reviews! I’m sure some of you have seen it, but it’s worth another quick visit and for those who haven’t seen it I’ve inserted below a 10 minutes ‘taste’ from the hour+ performance. One of the highlights of that performance, which I could not find a short enough clip to insert here, is her explanation of her ‘family tree’ to her daughter Billie, when Billie asked if she could date Reese, the son of Mike Todd and Elizabeth Taylor, or were they somehow related? Very entertaining!

Her life was filled with many highs and lows as she both dwelled in the limelight and suffered from failed relationships, but she has indeed left her mark. If you’re not familiar with her work, I’d recommend taking a look; she’ll make you laugh as well as give you some very candid insight into relationships.

I’m thinking Don and Carrie would have made a great couple – great intelligence, great wit, a flare for the dramatic and both were just a bubble off plumb.

Posted in opinion

THERE’S A GADGET FOR THAT

January 9, 2017By Sparrow/WatsonComments:7 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

This past weekend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was held in Las Vegas. It’s a major event for high tech companies; an opportunity to showcase their latest innovations and launch trial balloons on some pretty goofy gadgets. I love technology, although the relationship is not always reciprocated. My language while trying to fix our computer, iPad, Direct TV or cell phone systems would make a sailor blush. But still, I am fascinated by gadgets so it is with more than a passing interest that I follow the CES each year to see what’s on the horizon. For those of you who are sensible and don’t pay any attention to this stuff let me give you a bit of background. CES was started in 1967 in New York and featured such marvels as pocket radios, the Scottie record player (pictured) and the first TV’s with integrated circuits. Integrated circuits meant that TV’s no longer had those blasted tubes, which invariably blew out right before the Ed Sullivan Show or Gillette’s Cavalcade of Sports. Each time a tube faded out it required the services of a repairman to come and replace it. Or at least it did in our house because our dad could barely tell a screwdriver from a hammer.

Kuri – the nag

Over the years the CES has become the place for companies to showcase their latest inventions. It has featured such advances in technology as the cordless phone (remember when we had ONE phone in the house and it was attached to a wall?!) and the cassette tape, which eliminated vinyl records from the mainstream for decades. This week I’ve been reading about the trends for the coming year. They range from the scary to the ridiculous. First, virtual reality seems to be huge, with phone attachments and special glasses that can sweep you into another dimension. I guess given all of the drama of 2016 maybe a little “virtual” in our reality isn’t such a bad thing. The other popular trend is robotics. There is the Kuri, a home robot that has a cute little face and will perform tasks or provide information at your command. It can autonomously patrol around the house and – get this – has its own unique personality. Somehow that seems just the slightest bit creepy. Maybe I’ve watched too many episodes of Westworld but I am highly suspicious of a robot with personality. Oh sure, at first it’s bringing me my newspaper and giving me the answer to who starred in On the Waterfront, but what stops it from telling me that I shouldn’t have that second helping of chocolate cake? Or that I really should clean up the mess in the kitchen before I sit down to read. With my luck I’d get a Kuri that had the “personality” of a nag. I think I’ll stick with Dash the Wonder Dog getting my newspaper for now.

There are all sorts of “connected” gadgets this year – ones that hop onto your wireless network and interact with each other or with you, even in your sleep. The Sleep Number company has a new bed that can sense what you’re doing all night long and make adjustments. It will automatically adjust if you snore, add an automatic night light on the bed if you get up in the middle of the night, and pre-warm the mattress to toast up your feet on a cold night. It also connects to an app to offer information on how you’re sleeping. Do we really want a machine “sensing” what we’re doing all night long? Just imagine if your local neighbor’s 15 year-old hacked your system and sent that information around the neighborhood? Or worse, if somehow the Sleep Number bed and Kuri teamed up. Maybe a robot’s idea of fun is to goof around with the Sleep Number elevation system. You’d be bobbing up and down all night.

The Vacuum Shoe

I think I’ll stick with lower tech gadgets for now. The best thing I saw come out of the show is the Shoe that Vacuums. Yes! You can buy a pair of shoes that will pick up dust and crumbs as you stroll along your carpeting. Now that is innovation!

Posted in Holiday observations

The Unexamined Life

January 2, 2017By Sparrow/WatsonComments:9 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

“The unexamined life is not worth living”

Spoken by Socrates at his trial after he chose death rather than exile

It was suggested by more than one reader that my last blog, the one about ‘creative’ Christmas gifts, was simply filler, fluff, no real depth, mailed in, not intellectually challenging, stimulating or provocative.

I offered excuses about the hustle and bustle of the season, my new work schedule, another birthday, travel demands (Dallas, Salt Lake and Vegas in the last 60 days). But after searching for the many layers of that last blog, I discovered that it was a piece with no layers at all and in fact had no redeeming social, or for that matter, antisocial, qualities. So, as an apology I proffer a Top 10 list (along with my cogent comments) espoused by an All-Star cast of deep, philosophical thinkers to help you put your New Year’s resolutions in perspective.

I will say yes to life

Nietzsche, means rediscovering the seriousness one had as a child at play. (Pretty heavy when you think about it)

I will grow collective

Badiou commented that when people find love, they realize life offers them more together than it does alone. (Can we really trust a guy whose name is BAD I.O.U.?)

I will be present for others

Authentic engagement is world-disclosing work. Implicitly, by trying to enable the other, I acknowledge the value of sharing a world with them. (I think he means, wherever you are, be there!)

I will be a giver not a taker

Ask yourself, ‘What unique contributions can you make that could empower others?’ (Great arm farts probably don’t count)

I will focus on the things I can control not the things I can’t

Genuine self-control is equal parts focus, drive and humility. (and perhaps some prozac)

I will be a meaning maker

We must be prepared to disrupt ourselves every now and then in order to see the unexpected opportunities in daily events and take our lives in new directions. (We have to look no further than the latest election to affirm that we have indeed disrupted ourselves)

I will convert negative emotion into creative energy

Anger can be a gift. Channel it into a creative activity (Some are more ‘gifted’ than others)

I will question everything

By learning to think skeptically, we are not only better able to identify things that have real meaning, relevance, and value in life, we are also enabled to identify the things that lack meaning, relevance, and value (I know what you’re thinking – this blog lacks meaning, relevance and value)

I will celebrate abundance

Everything is fed by the flow of radiation from the sun. Hold out your hands to the sun. Feel it vitalize the molecular flows of your body. (Sun worshiping – it’s all come full circle)

I will never give up

Sartre argued that authenticity involves making a fundamental choice about how to live – as a philosopher, writer, communist, whatever. The caveat is that we acknowledge that this is only a choice, and there are other choices we can make in life. Camus argued for what is ultimately, I think, a more uncompromising position: that existential authenticity demands that we admit to ourselves that our plans and projects are for the most part hopeless and in vain – and struggle on regardless. This, for Camus, is existential revolt – to affirm the absurdity of life and continue. (I couldn’t have said it any better myself, actually I couldn’t have said it at all!)

Final words to think about when making your resolutions, from former publisher of Success magazine, Darren Hardy . . .

“Resolutions tend to focus on what you are not (skinnier, wealthier, punctual). As you try to focus on the life you want, you’ll be fixated on the things you haven’t accomplished”. He suggests that resolutions should start with your abundances and expand them.

Or you could forget about resolutions this year and just curl up with your new Santa Farting Butt Pillow.

Posted in Holiday observations • opinion

HAVE YOURSELF A FIZZY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

December 23, 2016By Sparrow/WatsonComments:12 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Music, in all of its forms, always seems to evoke memories of times past. That is never more true than at Christmas when emotions run a bit higher and hearing a carol on the radio can make even the most hard-hearted a bit sentimental. I have been listening to the “Holly” station on my satellite radio and find myself drawn back to some wonderful Christmas memories. Here are just a few – and to make sure you read until the end – I am also including Pop’s Christmas Ice Cream Fizz recipe.

“Silver bells, Silver bells, it’s Christmas time in the city.”

The City of Paris tree

“Silver Bells” was our mother’s favorite Christmas song. I remember back in the 1950’s we had a record player that was roughly the size of a modern day refrigerator. I thought it was a miracle of engineering that we could stack records on top of each other and they would drop in succession. At Christmastime our mother couldn’t get enough of “Silver Bells” so each time it concluded she rushed to the record player to keep the next record from dropping so she could hear it again. The song was our anthem; every year during the Christmas season we got dressed up, including gloves and hat, to make the 22 mile trip into San Francisco. We had three destinations: the Christmas tree in the City of Paris rotunda, the windows at Gump’s, and getting a sundae at Blum’s on Union Square. Only Gump’s has managed to survive. Blum’s closed in the 70’s and Neiman Marcus is now in the City of Paris building. The magic of the City of Paris Christmas tree was not only its 40 foot size, but the decorations – tricycles, dolls, trains and all manner of toys, bright lights, glass bulbs and a huge star on top. Each year it was a bit different and each year I stared at it in wide-eyed wonderment. When Neiman Marcus bought the store they tried to carry on the tradition but judging by this year’s effort – a metal, blue spiral cone hung upside down – they have done an abysmal job of it. Where is the magic in that? Makes me glad I grew up when I did.

“Silent Night, Holy Night”

Our grandmother was in her 50’s when our grandfather died in 1948. She never re-married. She referred to him constantly and loved to keep his memory alive through stories. She had a full life but was always a little sad around the holidays when she missed him most of all. His favorite Christmas carol was “Silent Night”. When all of our relatives would come on Christmas morning our mom would always have Christmas albums playing (by now we had graduated to a “console”). The problem was that “Silent Night” would bring our grandmother to tears. Unfortunately, of the approximately 87 Christmas albums our mother had, “Silent Night” seemingly appeared on all of them. So my job was to remember the various “cuts” on the albums where “Silent Night” was placed and then race to the console to skip over the track before grandma dissolved into tears. I can’t hear that song today without thinking about her and about the countless times I practically tripped over the Christmas tree lurching for the record player.

“Through the years we all will be together, if the Fates allow…”

A jolly man indeed!

This will be the 15th Christmas without our dad. I miss him just as much this year as I did that very first one. He was a happy, joyful guy, always kind and helpful to others. He was also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. All year long he embodied the Christmas spirit and when I was very young I thought he even looked like Santa, with his twinkling blue eyes, rosy cheeks and a stomach that shook like a bowl full of jelly. He loved the holidays, welcoming friends and family alike into our home. Our whole family misses his loving spirit but we also recognize we were very lucky to have him as long as we did and are grateful that he left us with so many cherished Christmas memories.

“…So have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now.”

One of Pop’s hallmarks was the Ice Cream fizz he served every Christmas morning. Oh sure, most families had hot chocolate and cider while we were drinking gin. But don’t judge – it has given a roseate hue to many a Christmas morning. So this year we are once again sharing his recipe so that you and your family might also enjoy this wonderful tradition.

POP’S CHRISTMAS ICE CREAM FIZZ

Fill a blender 1/4 full with ice cubes

Add 6 jiggers of gin

Add 4 scoops of French Vanilla ice cream

Add 1 small bottle of soda water (the size you get in a 6-pack)

My brother Bob adds an egg so the white adds some froth, brother Jack doesn’t add an egg. Personally, I’d add it just because you can then claim it’s a protein drink.

Just blend it well and – voila – you have a concoction sure to put a positive spin on everyone and every thing!

Our mom served them in a wine glass with a dash of nutmeg. As we got older we would conspire with Pop and ditch the wine glass for a chilled beer mug from the freezer. Saved having to go back for seconds…or thirds.

We wish everyone a Happy Holiday season – we’ll be back in 2017!

Posted in Holiday observations

I’m Not Making This Stuff Up!

December 19, 2016By Sparrow/WatsonComments:8 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

Who wouldn’t look good in this?

Some of you may remember that last year around this time, I posted a blog entitled ‘Gift Ideas for Those Who Have Everything’. It was one of our least read blogs, but I did hear from readers who found it helpful, not for finding things they would really give to someone, but for putting into perspective the things they actually bought. “Hey, that laundry soap on a rope wasn’t as stupid as that yodeling pickle!” So, here I am again this year, with another selfless act of providing you with great ideas for gifts for that person who may not have everything, but you can be sure they don’t have any of these!

Doggie Go Pro – Tired of a bird’s eye view? Get a dog’s-eye view with this ‘fetch mount’ camera. Shouldn’t your dog be able to capture his adventures on film? Only $399.99 – film not included.

Your Cup of Joe – You coffee lovers who didn’t jump on the coffee mug in the shape of a toilet bowl last year, probably won’t jump on this coffee mug in the shape of a basketball, complete with hoop and ready for dunking marshmallows. Or you may want to just be honest and get the ‘There’s A Chance That This Could Be Vodka’ mug

What could be more romantic than snuggling up with that special someone with your own Santa Farting Butt pillow. Aside from the Santa beer fart smell, it comes in various holiday fragrances, my favorite is reindeer breath.

Trying to get that special someone to stop smoking? Here’s the perfect gift, the ‘Black Lungs Ashtray – the more you smoke, the blacker it gets.

The Faux Tummy Stuffer – we all over-indulge during the holidays, what with all the cookies, candy and booze laying around. It’s hard not to become an alcoholic or chocoholic at this time of year; so when people comment, “Say, that extra weight really looks good on you.”, you can surprise them by revealing the Tummy Stuffer that makes you look fat, which takes their attention away from how really fat you are.

Hillary Nutcracker – no comment

Time in a Can – Is that special someone tired of the convenience of a wristwatch, but wants to know the time? Here’s your solution; just carry around this ‘Time Spray Can’ and you can spray the time on anything. Now that’s convenience!

You’re welcome! You’ve still got a few more shopping days left!

S.P. Suzanne and I wish you and your family the very Merriest of Christmases

Posted in opinion

THE CHRISTMAS CARD DILEMMA

December 12, 2016By Sparrow/WatsonComments:10 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

I love everything about Christmas – the decorations, the tree, the festive spirit that seems to permeate the air. Of course, all that egg nog and hot buttered rum helps. The only Grinch to my Christmas spirit is the dreaded Christmas cards. Don’t get me wrong, I love to receive them, I just hate sending them. So while our house is now ready for Christmas (my husband has opined that it looks like an elf vomited in here), I have put off my decision on cards until this week – do I send some out or just forget the whole thing? Christmas cards just seem so 80’s to me – the 1880’s, which is when Christmas cards became popular in America. The sending of cards is reminiscent of a time before the internet, when you didn’t hear from people except for the annual Christmas card. Social media and email have completely changed that; today I can tell you what my friend down in Texas had for breakfast because she posted it on Facebook. I know of every birth, death, marriage, divorce and trip to the mall. So I don’t really need to get a Christmas card or worse yet, a Christmas letter, to know what my friends have been up to. I know what my friends are doing right down to their scrambled eggs.

My Christmas cards seems to fall into four major categories. First are the corporate cards. You know, the ones from the banker or insurance agent. The first card we received this year was from our attorney, which seems only fitting since we bared our souls to him a few months ago while drawing up new life and death documents. I don’t know whether he’s sending genuine greetings or he’s just checking to see whether the card gets returned and he needs to start filing paperwork. The second category are from distant friends – people that we don’t see all year long but somehow the need arises to wish each other the very best for the holiday season. Mostly they are old neighbors or workmates I couldn’t pick out in a crowd. Am I morally obligated to continue this exchange of well-wishes? The third group are the true friends – some of whom we see or keep in touch with all year long. Heck, some of us are golf partners or good friends with whom we socialize every week. We will be wishing holiday greetings in person, some of them several times. Do we really need to send cards too?

The last category is the Christmas letter. There are some that are really well done. Some. But most seem to have turned the Christmas tradition of wishing others a happy season to one giant “let’s talk about me” exercise. Generally, people just don’t know where to stop. Johnny got into Harvard? Great. Snookie was elected president of her third grade class? Good for her! But too often it goes into such minutia that it borders on the ridiculous. My parents used to receive one that was so full of trivia and self-aggrandizement that our mom used to wait until we were all gathered on Christmas Eve so that one of us kids (by this time adults and full of “cheer”) could read it in dramatic fashion, everyone breaking into gales of laughter. Each year my husband and I receive one from one of his former co-workers that last year had me going from the start. In addition to a litany of the various trips taken, there was a review of golf handicaps (they went down, of course), a tabulation of their granddaughter’s Girl Scout cookie sales and the net worth of the company that their son-in-law went to work for, along with its employee count and various office locations. Seriously. As they’re writing this tome do they really think anyone cares about the headcount in Poughkeepsie?

Perhaps the best take on Christmas cards was from a friend of our parents back in the 60’s. They kept every card they received the previous year. Then they re-addressed it to the sender inserting a note that read “We liked your Christmas card so much last year that we have decided to give you the pleasure of seeing it again this year. So, we’re sending it back to you.” Now that is clever. And it beats using old cards to make ornaments. As for all the Christmas letters? They could be shredded into bird cage liner and the circle would be closed.

So, here I sit in mid-December still trying to weigh the pros and cons of sending cards. Mailing cards has become exponentially easier with the advent of computer-generated mailing labels so I don’t have that arthritic wrist to provide an excuse anymore. And since I do like to see photos of people’s kids, grandkids and dogs I feel like I need to somehow reciprocate. After all, who am I to deny the world of one more cute picture of Dash the Wonder Dog at Christmas?

Posted in travel

“This is the Place”

December 5, 2016By Sparrow/WatsonComments:1 Comment

by Bob Sparrow

SLC and the Wasatch Mountain Range

That’s what Brigham Young said in 1847 after a long overland trek from Illinois, when standing at the mouth of Emigration Canyon on the east bench of the Wasatch Mountain Range looking over what is now the Salt Lake Valley. It was there that their journey would end and where the Mormon religion would call home as they committed to “make the desert blossom like a rose”. It is said that there was only one tree in the valley at that time, now there are over one million trees and lots of roses.

I was first introduced to Utah in 1964 when visiting the campus of the University of Utah on a football recruiting trip. I was immediately taken by the beauty and majesty of the surrounding mountains. It was January and a blanket of snow covered the Wasatch Range as well as the wide boulevards of Salt Lake City. It was a spectacular winter wonderland, especially for a young man who was born and raised in California.

Tuscany entrance

In recent years Linda and I as well as brother, Jack and wife, Sharon have tried to get back to a Utah football game each season. This year we were joined by Mark & Kathy Johnson for the Utah-Oregon game. The Johnsons had an additional incentive to go to Utah as Mark’s parents and a brother live there. For the last seven years we have always had our ‘pre-game Friday night meal’ at a wonderful restaurant in Holladay, a southern suburb of Salt Lake, called Tuscany. It is nestled among cottonwood and box elder trees making it barely visible from the street and has a ‘cozy old world’ feel inside. On this Friday night we had one of the owners of the restaurant, Mark Eaton, eating at the table next to us. He was a professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz and is hard to miss at 7’4”. At 59 years old, he looked like he could still play. Delightful dinner, the pork chop is to die for!

Rice-Eccles Stadium

The game was at noon on a clear, crisp Saturday, which kept us from using the day to stop by the campus of my son Jeff’s and my alma mater, Westminster College. But it did not keep us from heading to the tailgate party across from the stadium where Jeff had alerted a Utah alum friend that we would be there and so we were invited to their tailgate party, which was no small bash! With no professional football team within 500 miles, Salt Lake is a college football town, which was easily seen by the throngs of supporters wearing red and pouring into a sold out stadium. Rice-Eccles Stadium was brought up to its current state-of-the-art condition when Salt Lake hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. The football game itself? I suppose it was exciting, but not a good exciting, as Oregon scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2 seconds left in the game to win 30-28.

Tailgaters

Our ‘consolation dinner’ that night was down town at the Market Street Grill, which was just a couple of blocks from our City Center Marriott hotel. We were directed to the Main Street Grill by dear friend and neighbor, Marge Dunn, whose niece, Sarah works there. We had a delicious dinner and were able to talk with Sarah, who was bartending this night.

In spite of the Utah heart-breaking loss, which kept them from playing for the Pac-12 South championship the following week, the visit was invigorating. The weather was truly ‘fall-like’, which we don’t get much of in Southern California and Salt Lake has to be one of the cleanest and safest cities in the country. If you’ve never been there, put it on your bucket list, you won’t regret it . . . and don’t forget to have dinner at Tuscany.