Tis the week before Christmas, and here in my house,

I sit at the keyboard and mess with the mouse.

Attempts to bring joy to readers we love,

Are beyond my small brain, say those from above.

So, here are good wishes, for neighbors and pals,

From my heart to you, let us ring Christmas bells.

As we gather with family and friends round the table, let us pause for a moment to salute all those who enabled us to enjoy and endure 2022.

We know them as first responders, policemen, policewomen, sheriffs’ deputies, state troopers, volunteer firefighters, paramedics and ambulance drivers.

We also know them by their given names, like Larry and Nick, Dickie, Gerry and Todd, to name just a few. We hope they will have a chance to stay home and spend the holidays with family and friends. But we know, and they know, that at any time, one of their neighbors, one of our neighbors, could be in need. Then they will jump in the car, turn on the blue lights and whiz off to assist someone in need. On the way, they will hope the emergency will not involve a relative, a neighbor, or a friend. But, in any case, they will go anyway. Here is a big Merry Christmas thank you to them all.

There are lots of other public servants who deserve our Christmas wishes, too.

They are the volunteers who sit on boards and commissions to help us maintain our communities. Sometimes they are caught in the middle, as neighbors object to projects proposed by their other neighbors.

So far, not counting the squabble from a few years past, as we debated the design of a highway intersection with the fury of a wounded bobcat, we have not seen the volunteer boards subjected to personal attacks. Let us hope this continues.

We need to thank town workers who plow and repair our streets, keep the books, issue permits and give us advice. Let us send a Merry Christmas to them all.

On this holiday, some of us will attend volunteer community dinners hosted by laughing neighbors who smile as they dish out the goodies and wash up the plates. May their bells get a happy jingle from us all.

Local school administrators, teachers, teacher's aides, janitors, lunch ladies, bus drivers, and others labor to teach and watch over our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They all deserve more than an apple a day and a happy wave. They have earned our trust.

We thank them one and all.

In hospitals, clinics and nursing facilities, there are doctors and nurses, orderlies, janitors and administrators, and other healthcare workers, who work hard to keep us and our kin alive. Thanks for them all.

Perched on the shore, the men and women of the Coast Guard are on duty during Christmastime. We hope they will not be required to suit up and head out to sea. But we take comfort in knowing if they had to, they would go.

Lastly, we know on our bases around the world, men and women who wear the uniform are standing duty on Christmas. Of course, they would rather be home with their wives, husbands, kids and the rest of their kin.

Having spent a lonely Christmas in a faraway land, I know the pain the holidays can tug at your heart. We hope these heroes will be able to come home soon. We thank them all for their service. Most of all, we offer a Christmas prayer in hopes that the madness that has infected the world's international relationships will find the path to a peaceful resolution. For us all, the alternative is too horrible to consider.

In closing, let me offer thanks and best wishes to the folks who take the trouble to read this weekly drivel. Writing is a two-way street. Unless folks read our words, we might as well be whistling up a tree. I hope some words that jumped out of my computer this year made you pause, and think for just a moment or two. I know some will agree, some will not, some will laugh and, of course, some will not. As the late John Prine said, "That's the way the world goes round."

Philosophers might say we live in interesting times. If 2022 is any indication, 2023 could be even more interesting. Stay tuned.

To these rambling Christmas thoughts, let me append the familiar words from Clement Clark Moore that first appeared in the Troy (New York) Sentinal in 1823.

Merry Christmas to all and to all, a good night.

Now that this is finished, a snow shovel is calling my name.