I’m going off to my mother’s in a bit to eat tamales with her and my brother, smothered in his special queso sauce. It doesn’t feel like Christmas in south central Arizona. It’s raining on and off and I have my heater going (not just for the heat but for the damp). I’ll probably talk to my sister by phone while I’m over there—the one time of the year we talk. This year she fell down the QAnon rathole but thankfully my brother did not!

Overall, it was a good year for me. I got out of a job that was mentally like having a steel trap around my ankle into one that really has its moments, but it pays better.

I got to go to Japan again, and the thoughts and pictures I have from that experience make me happy on days when things are just weird. I want to go back next May and visit Tokyo, if possible.

(This picture was taken at a famous garden in Okayama that’s been around since the 17th century and entered its final form about 140 years ago.)

Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah / Happy Yule / Happy Kwanzaa!