2023 Annual Year-End Card

 

Option- or right-click to download full-size, printable version of card.

 

Folding the printed version once in each direction should create a traditional card.

Scott, my older brother, passed away this year. He left behind the legacy of a full life and a loving wife and daughter. Joining the army after high school, Scott became a helicopter mechanic. After three years of service he studied HVAC on the GI Bill. As an AC and refrigeration specialist, he was able to live and work in any hot climate imaginable.

 

We were five years apart in age, too much to have much fraternal competition. To make up for the lack, as young adults we joked about who was the taller. One year, Scott surprised me by with a new method to compare heights. Instead of standing back to back, we would compare driver's licenses. That was the year he put down 6'1" instead of an even six feet when he went in for a renewal. I had to concede to California's official edict.

 

For folks familiar with Michener's The Drifters, I came to think of Scott as Harvey Holt, the tech rep who traveled the world fixing installations that the locals couldn't. He thrived in various states in the US, Vietnam, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

 

I can honestly say my brother made me a better person. At one point (Thankfully, in my early twenties), he interrupted our usual banter with, "It's great joking around with you, but sometimes I just want to know how you are doing. What's up?"

 

Have you heard the one about the guy who was writing a book on comedy? Probably not, since it's taken almost four decades (and is still no quite finished). Among the few, surviving, bucket-list items, finishing this project has been on the wait-until-I'm-retired, back burner. It's not that retired necessarily means tired, though lots of other things still seem to loom in prominence.

 

You know the Rule of 80/20? Eighty percent of a project takes just twenty percent of the time; the last twenty percent takes the final eighty percent. Unfortunately, I've progresse to the 90/10 zone and seem to be stuck in Zeno's Paradox. Maybe next year. Look for Writing Down the Funny Bones in better bookstores sometime in 2024.

 

As a form of pre-self-promotion I woke up that old meme about successfully submitting one joke to Reader's Digest will more than make up for the cost of the book. Wanting to test the theory, in the spring I made several submissions to the Canadian RD. In August, a check arrived with the vague notation, "For the October issue". It took patience to wait until the end of September when Chris brought home a fresh copy of the October issue.

 

With memories of the robust Digest from long ago, a feeling of guilt arose as I clutched the slim volume. It wasn't enough to send back the check (supplemented with a donation) though it prompted a brief moment of silence for the ongoing demise of periodicals.

So, what was the chosen quip?

 

I was going to sing up for a banjo class but decided against it. The notice read, "Free banjo lessons. No strings attached."

 

Of course, the elation of having fulfilled a childhood dream of getting a joke published in Reader's Digest is overshadowed by the frequent disappointments whenever new mail arrives without an additional check.

 

Please know that Chris and I are just as confused as you are by this year's card. Our heads are spinning. Combining Christmas, diabolos, and cats also gives us pause. Fortunately, Louis Wain, the artist, had a festive fetish for cats and cards. A film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, can be seen on some streaming services.

 

Still haven't unboxed all of the at-the-time-considered valuable items from The Great Moves of 2022, which is probably a good thing. Historians may look back on 2023 as being Peak Todd. While my health is actually pretty good, I think more about how to get rid of things rather than accumulate new stuff. Here's hoping this recent superpower lasts (and will be used for good).

 Still rowing, still listening to audiobooks. Still pedaling, still watching Great Courses. By the time you read this, I should have rowed 7/8 of the way around the world, 35 million lifetime meters.

 

Chris is convinced that a local contingent of peacocks have made it their job to welcome us to Victoria. They are seen strutting and preening at several of the grocery stores she visits. So far, none have followed us home; though don't be surprised if next-year's card adopts a different theme.

 

So,what's up with you?

 

Once again, our best wishes for the holidays and the year ahead.

 

Chris and Todd

copyright 2023 by Todd Strong