Peace on Earth

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I ended up unexpectedly spending the better part of the evening at Tully O'Reilly's. I was walking back from the store and had to stop when I saw Ron Sarazin there. My old boss and former owner of the Baystate Hotel, I hadn't seen him in months and was glad to have a chance to say goodbye.

I was on my way out the door when Harry McColgan, former owner of Tully's bar showed up alone. Long time readers know that Harry and I go way back, so you understand that I could hardly leave him there and really, I was glad for chance to spend some holiday time with him. That hasn't happened since he hooked up with Jeannie.

When I finally managed to get out of the bar, I discovered a friend on the sidewalk who had celebrated just a tad too much and was insisting on driving. Fortunately, he had 'lost' his car and it was freezing cold so I was able to convince him a ride home in a warm car made much more sense. Turned out to be a pretty good Christmas after all, under the circumstances.

For some inmates across the country, it was a slightly better holiday than it could have been as well, thanks to radio station WMMT-FM in Whitesburg, Kentucky. The station, said to be popular among big-city inmates being held in isolated prisons in central Appalachia, took its annual Christmas program nationwide this year. They hosted a call-in show that provided a forum for inmates and their families to exchange holiday greetings. More than 40 radio stations also participated by simulcasting the program.

With so many inmates effectively sold to lowest bidder and incarcerated such long distances from their families under the privatized prison system, I found this to be an especially touching and humane gesture that really captured the spirit of the season. Think I'll drop them a note (wmmtfm@appalshop.org) and tell them so.

Meanwhile, it's back to the packing again for me. I leave you with one last Christmas thought this morning. I was humming this John Lennon song all day yesterday and really appreciated Wampum posting the lyrics.

And so happy Christmas, For black and for white,
For yellow and red ones, Let's stop all the fight.

A very merry Christmas, And a happy New Year,
Let's hope it's a good one, Without any fear...