December 26, 27, 28: Rationalize Their Thoughts, Emergen-C, I Did It

As the ship's [Heart of Gold's] artificial night closed in they were each grateful to retire to separate cabins and try to rationalize their thoughts.

Another description of life on the Heart of Gold that could describe a science fiction Dickens scene.  Everyone lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, while visions of the relationships between atoms and molecules dance in their heads.

Yes, I have been absent from posting for a while.  It seems that all of my late-night/all-night grading and Christmas writing and Christmas present wrapping has finally caught up with me.  The day after Christmas, as I was walking into work at 5:45 a.m., I began to sneeze and wheeze.  By about mid-morning, I was in full-blown post-Christmas sickness mode.  For two days now, I've been battling a monster cold.  At night, I've been walking through the door at around 7:30, changing into my pajamas, and collapsing into bed.  In the past two days, I've slept more than I've slept in the past month.  Nine hours one night.  About nine-and-a-half hours the next night.  I've also been dosing myself with DayQuil and Emergen-C.  Finally, this morning, I'm feeling almost human again.  Ready to rejoin the living.

Now, in order to make up for my prolonged hiatuses this month from blogging, I'm going to do something a little different for these last few days of 2019 (a year which has not been one of my favorites), I am going to be doing an extra post each day, containing past Christmas essays and poems that I've written.  Think of it as my version of the twelve days of Christmas, except I don't think I have twelve essays, so it might end up being the ten or eleven days of Saint Marty-mas.

I had a really wonderful Christmas day.  Relaxing.  The highlight of the morning was my son finding out that he and my daughter are getting a puppy for Christmas.  A miniature Australian shepherd.  His face, when he realized a puppy was in his future, will be something that I'll never forget.  Pure surprise and joy.  In the days since Christmas, he will stop what he's doing every once in a while, look up, and say, "I'm getting a flippin' puppy!"

After playing the pipe organ for Mass Christmas morning, I spent the rest of the day opening up presents and eating.  Literally.  That's all I did.  Ham and eggs and toast and cookies and cookies and cookies.  Did I mention cookies?  Of course, there was the normal kind of family dysfunction that goes along with the holiday.  That cannot be avoided.  However, it was a really good day.

When I got home at night, I sort of felt like Clark Griswold at the end of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  He looks up at the sky, smiles and says, "I did it."

Saint Marty did it.  He gave his kids the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye.