conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

on the third day of christmas

Greetings to one and all from Huddleston, Virginia.

The trip out east was good. This is the first time Trish and I split up the drive. I think we might be doing that again. Fifteen hours is simply beyond our stamina levels now. So, we drove to Louisville on Thursday and to Doswell on Friday.

A Doswell Christmas

I am sure I will be wrestling with a serious bout of homesickness when all of this is over. I usually do. But this year got me good. The Hudginses all managed to come our way on Christmas Eve. Aunt Virginia was a noted exception. She is in hospice care in Richmond. Keep her in your prayers. Aunt Ginny is a grand old woman. Her leaving will be a great loss.

But people enjoyed themselves. My brother, Chuck, and our cousin, Doug, managed to spend six hours talking about the game of craps, the gamblers fallacy, and "causal" somethings. Basically, Doug is a brilliant old time gambler and my brother is working through the critical thinking portion of his Philosophy PhD. They have entirely too many working brain cells.

The rest of us caught up with the family news and employment plans. This is where the homesickness piece came in. My uncle Joe is all about our returning to Virginia. He is quite overt in his opinions. So, we spent the evening chatting about future plans, weddings, ministries and sports. How I miss Joe.

Amy Dale and Scooter came by later that evening. We exchanged gifts and ate more food. Have I mentioned the food. I have lost about 10 or 15 pounds in the last several weeks. I believe I have gained it all back. Pork loin, shrimp, beef tenderloin, smoked ham, orzo salad, cookies, cookies, cookies, fudge, cheese, and other happy holiday moments were our hourly fare the entire time there. My father and step mother are tremendous cooks.

Christmas day was bitter sweet. Spending it with my father, step-mother, brother and my wife is a great thing. And later when the other Watlingtons came calling we had a grand time. We did, however, go visit my step mother's mother in the nursing home. Lelia has Altzheimer's Disease. She was such a brilliant woman. It is a sad shame. It broke my heart. And what was more difficult was watching my step mother shoulder that burden. That just about did me in.

And still we gathered and celebrated. We share memories and laughter. We gave gifts. It was fantastic.

Thus far, the most fun gift has been George Carlin's book, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops. It is my father's attempt to participate in my continuing theological education. Wow. It is an insane volume. I love it.

We arrived in Huddleston yesterday, exchanged gifts last night (digital camera - yahoo!), and will spend the day tooling around and visiting Trish's family. It is good to see my wife so happy. Her family is insane in all the right ways. I enjoy visiting them.

I'll post more on that later on.

Tomorrow we leave for Lynchburg.

Posted by tripp at December 27, 2005 06:05 AM