It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas… and I haven’t felt very Christmassy since before COVID, so this is a big f’g deal, as VP Biden said before a hot mic to POTUS Obama when the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed.(Now we just need to get Medicare for All and VP Harris can say the same thing to HIM! If wishes were fishes. She was for MFA when she was running for POTUS, so I presume she still is.)
I’ve received gifts from two dear friends, one of whom I have only met virtually (for now)!
Yesterday, I showed you what Hannah McCrane sent me for Christmas. She has my number!
As most of you know, Hannah visited me for a week a couple of years ago, so we got to know each other a lot better then. You got to know her in every way but one-to-one if you tuned in to our podcast, EVER NEW, when it was a going concern. If you missed it, it’s not too late to enjoy it. You can find links to it here: http://ndbmedia.net/EN.html?fbclid=IwAR3dYlwVhi5J30Q1oWGsBQ8pDr7v8YrkmkGwmvNzvnAPr7Qfe_uqOi55N5c.
It’s a lot about DeForest and Carolyn Kelley, so if you’re into them, you’ll enjoy the heck out of it. But we covered other topics and events, too, and we had some super guests and occasional additional co-hosts (Trek and Celestis related for the most part).
Today I got a package from Sherry Sutton from North Carolina
I believe Sherry found me as a result of reading my De book (DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal) and then finding our podcast shortly after that not long before it went extinct as a semi-monthly offering. (We will resurrect it during special De-centric occasions, probably, if we can get some additional guests to share their reminiscences of De with the audience.)
Sherry and I are essentially two peas in a pod, except that she’s a Native American Indian (Lumbee-Tuscarora, to be specific) so I’m envious. My oral and DNA history confirm that I have an Indigenous background from Central and South America (Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, to be exact) but my most recent ancestors all came from Europe (Germany chiefly, but also France and Italy farther back) except for one. I have a photo of a predecessor sitting in front of a tipi, but I know nothing about her, which saddens me.
Anyway, we’ve chatted several times via Facebook video IM and every time, our conversations last at least an hour, but they feel like mere minutes. Sherry is an amazing photographer and a retired teacher. She always traipsing around, and I enjoy seeing her photos on FB because every single one tells a story, or delivers a visceral response. She’s truly gifted in that way.
Sherry told me a couple weeks ago that she was going to send me a little sum’pin, sum’pin’ so I’ve been expecting a mysterious box of undefined North Carolinian goodies from her. She said to expect it tomorrow or Tuesday but, as I returned from my walk this morning, a postal worker was stopping in my driveway to deliver the box to me. WHEEE!
I didn’t waste any time digging in!
And wow, I am totally I DE-lighted by what I found inside…
I’m including the info from inside the card in case you want to know
where to reach out to get any of these treasures for yourself or for a loved one
The “Bone” bracelet has been blessed by its creator or by Sherry. Either way… *sigh*
Sherry picked up the stone during her most recent jaunt on the Appalachian Trail. It has sparkles in that you can’t see in the above image. She had no idea that I ask friends who visit exotic locations (Arizona, Africa, Ireland, etc.) to bring me back a rock or stone from the ground (not a store) that critters have kicked around for millennia, so this is AMAZING and darned psychic of her!
Aside: Here’s a rock DeForest Kelley brought home from Arizona back when he was portraying cowboys. He eventually gave it to his next door neighbor, Don Catherwood, who bequeathed it to me upon his passing:
I’m looking forward to finding out if the red popcorn stays red after it pops. I doubt it does, but if it does, I will probably string it so I can put it on a holiday tree or wreath every year.
And I’m looking forward to experiencing the hair and body soap and the tea.
The kitty cat matchbox will come in handy when I’m starting fires in my backyard fire pit during upcoming summers, ONE (at least) OF WHICH will include Sherry Sutton sitting pit-side with me while we pop red popcorn, or cook hotdogs, or enjoy s’mores. I’ve invited her to fly out and stay with me for a time next year (depending on how long she can get away and I can stay away from writing work without going backward financially) so we can do animaly-y stuff, powwows, and anything else she wants to do while she’s here. She’s quite the walk-about-er, and we have wonderful walks in every direction.
See? DeForest and Carolyn Kelley are continuing to bless me by bringing other kindred spirits into my life. De attracted the best folks to him. Seriously. I have never met a De fan I didn’t love, respect and cherish. Even the ones that got away largely because of my personal challenges as a neurodivergent being. I still love, respect, and cherish them.
