Christmas 2019

It was a mild Christmas Eve last Tuesday (24 December). The Ellisville branch of Enterprise Rent-A-Car (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) closed at 3:00 pm. On my way home, I stopped by my friend Del Miller's house in Concord Village, where I gave him a get-well card signed by my IPMS/Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home) mates and my annual newsletter. Miller is recovering from a stroke he suffered last month. He was up and about on his walker when we talked.

I then came home, and early that night joined Mom in a Christmas Eve service at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/) in Mehlville. It was a moving service.

Then, we came home and began opening our presents. I opened one from my brother Doug: a black SpaceX (https://www.spacex.com/) hoodie, which I really liked. He knows of my great interest in aerospace. I also opened a package from my brother Rick, with two books from Arcadia Publishing (https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/). One was "St. Louis Advertising," on ads that ran in the St. Louis area (print and billboard) since the 19th century. The other book was "St. Louis: Bridges Highways and Roads," a pictorial look at the area's road network over the years.

The next morning, Mom and I had breakfast before returning to the living room to open our remaining presents. Rick sent me two more Arcadia Publishing books: "Area 51," on the top-secret CIA (https://www.cia.gov/index.html) and US Air Force (https://www.af.mil/) test site in Nevada; and, "Flight Research at NASA Langley Research Center," on aircraft test work performed at this NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/) facility in Virginia.

Also for me were: a 2020 calendar "Historic Warbirds," with illustrations and history on several classic World War II combat aircraft from Osprey Publishing (https://ospreypublishing.com/); insoles for my work shoes; four pairs of wool work socks; and, a bag of candy. Plus, Brian, sent me a Barnes & Noble (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/) gift certificate. Not bad at all.

After that, Mom and I relaxed at home.

Later.