“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.” – Winston Churchill

"This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalms 118:24) Good morning and welcome. It is Monday, December 14, 2020. The photo above was taken by our eldest of his granddaughter Bella and their new pup, Sophie. (They may soon be delivering Sophie's food in an 18 wheeler.) The two of them are inseparable. That picture tells their story. I love it when it happens like that. And, she is our great-granddaughter which probably is a factor in how I viewed this image. I may try to recreate it between Bentley and myself. That had better be understood as a joke and even though I didn't cut down a cherry tree, but, I will say because of my commitment to full disclosure the thought did cross my mind. I do love that photo. I really do. 

I did a Santa appearance last Saturday at a professional daycare chain location and I shouldn't have been surprised how young the kids were who came for a photo with Santa. Often they also had a baby with them and that set up a difficult situation. The kids were placed on the floor next to me so this meant they tried to get the toddler to hold the baby since due to COVID I wasn't handling any of the children. We are looking forward to next year, if we are still around and if we are still doing Santa, when we can once again hold the children and especially the infants. The event was still great and I had three hours of non-stop opportunity to communicate the joy of Christmas to the kids and their parents. We have two charity events to do and then we are finished for this most unusual season. The other evening when we did the big event at Chick-fil-a, some of the folks were nearly in tears because they didn't think they would be able to have photos during this virus-contaminated year. That made us feel like we had made their lives just a wee bit better. The joy works folks. In both directions.

The wife continues to prepare for Christmas as if we will do our normal thing. I sure hope it works out that way. I did hear a clip of one of the media's top medical experts blaming families for the upsurge in infections because they chose to gather for Thanksgiving. Talk about the nanny state on steroids! We will do our best to make decisions based on the best information we can get along with the collective participation of our clan. We do what we can, one day at a time. May God bless each one as we all seek a way forward during these challenging times. Amen. ......More later.