A group of South Korean tourists narrowly avoided a ruined vacation, with good fortune swapping it for an unforgettable experience waiting out a blizzard and cooking with a New York family.
Traveling from Niagara Falls to Washington DC, a tour group of 10 South Koreans got stuck in a blizzard near Buffalo. Two of the group went to a local house to ask for a shovel to dislodge their vehicle.
It was Christmas Eve when Alex Campagna heard their frantic knocking on his door. Outside, he recounted on Facebook, was “the worst blizzard I’ve experienced,” and knowing the folly of trying to carry on, he invited them all inside, putting them up on couches, air mattresses, and sleeping bags.
“As a Buffalonian, this is on another level, the Darth Vader of storms,” he told the New York Times.
Eager to repay his kindness, the guests cooked several South Korean meals like jeyuk bokkeum, stir-fried pork, and dakdori tang, a spicy chicken stew. As it turns out, Campagna and his wife really like Korean food and actually happened to have some of the more extravagant ingredients on hand.
The Times reports they stayed Friday and Saturday. They swapped stories and even enjoyed some American football matches on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas day. Drivers came to pick up the tour group and took them to New York for some impromptu flights.
“We have enjoyed this so much,” said Choi Yoseob, a member of the group who described the experience as unforgettable and a “unique blessing.”
The Good News here is that someone had empathy for his fellow human beings who were in trouble. Today’s JohnKu talks about good deeds. I hope you have a very Happy New Year.
In Keith’s words. “Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before Sunday evening UK time. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.”
“The hawk we don’t see today is the surprise for tomorrow.”
“You make that up?”
“Sorta.”
“Well, it’s crap.”
“Oh my. Why’s that?”
“In my mind, the hawk we don’t see today is one less hawk. Period.”
“You know, that’s a very pessimistic way to look at it.”
“I prefer the word realistic.”
“Hold on.”
“What?”
“I see a red tail banking over the lagoon.”
“What a sight that must be.”
“You can say that again.”
“What a sight—”
“Very funny. He’s headed right at me.”
“Does he see you?”
“It almost looks like he does. He has something in his beak.”
“Something like what?”
“Rolled up paper. Whoa, he just swooped over and dropped the paper.”
“Go get it.”
“On my way.”
“You back yet? Hello, Reggie. You back? Reggie?”
“Yeah I’m back. Give me a second to unroll the paper. Okay, it’s a message.”
“What does it say?”
“Attention hawk watchers. We are no longer going to be the subject of observation. We are tired of the prying eyes constantly intruding on our daily lives. The hawks of the world are united, and nothing you can offer will bring us out of seclusion.”
“Boy, that is pretty harsh. You think they mean it?”
“Sounds like they do.”
“Can you communicate with them?”
“I have in the past. One on one only, though.”
“Well try again. Tell them we are prepared to offer substantial sums for visual sightings.”
“They probibly will reject money.”
“Offer corn or dead mice. I don’t care. We need to see them again.”
“Hold on. I have the hawk leader on the other line.”
“Okay I’ll stand bye.”
“Hey Oliver.”
“Yes Reggie.”
“The hawk leader says he’ll take a year’s supply of corn and mice.”
“Where we going to get a year’s supply?”
“Maybe he’ll accept installments.”
“You know how we are going to catch the mice?”
“Yeah. The cats will help.”
“Thought they were on strike for a vegan diet demand.”
“Oh dear. Maybe some traps.”
“Remember the cows are on a sabbatical so no cheese.”
“Is it my imagination or have we lost control?”
“Never should have let ’em all enroll in college.”
This list was first posted on December 26th, 2016. I think it is still good advice.
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Top Ten Things Not to Do on The Day After Christmas
10 On the day after Christmas, do not venture out to return gifts. If you do, at best, due to the lines, you will get to return three in eight hours. At worse, you will encounter conditions much like warfare and require treatment for PGRTS. (Post Gift Return Traumatic Syndrome is nothing to take lightly, Buford.)
9 On the day after Christmas, do not watch a bowl game. If you do, at best, it won’t keep you awake. At worst, the two teams will be so bad you will totally regret the time spent watching. (You never realized a schedule made up entirely six loss teams could be so dull, did you, Bunky. Bunky? You awake?)
8 On the day after Christmas, do not go out to dinner. If you do, at best, you will avoid ptomaine poisoning. At worst, you will be eating in a place where all the full-time help has been given the day off, and the only thing on the menu is chipped beef on toast. (Did you know tonight’s chef typically works in prison, did you, Roy?)
7 On the day after Christmas, do not decide to take in a movie. If you do, at best, you’ll finally get into the midnight show. At worst, you will be jammed into a theater with 300 swine flu victims. (Didn’t all that coughing give you a hint Wilbur?)
6 On the day after Christmas, do not fall for the Day After Christmas sale. If you do, at best, you’ll find something cheaper than what you paid for Aunt Millie’s gift. At worst, you will find your hand on the same item as the WWF champ Tiny. (Tiny is growling. In one more second, he will be doing his death match-biting routine. I would let go now.)
5 On the day after Christmas, do not get on a ladder to fix that burned-out light in the blinking string. If you do, at best, you may cause the whole series to go out. At worst, you might do your Olympic swan dive with a degree of difficulty of 4.6 and get an EMS score of 10. (Why was it easier to put them up there? Oh yeah, you did them ten years ago when you were still under 65.)
4 On the day after Christmas, do not ask for a special menu that does not include leftovers. If you do, at best, you might be wearing your dinner. At worst, you might have the time to wonder why you never put heat in the dog house. ( Not much room after Bowser take his spot, is there Ferd?)
3 On the day after Christmas, do not think you can avoid fixing all the high-quality toys that took the kids three minutes to break. If you do, at best, the damage will increase. At worst, you may have to suffer from the din of dissatisfied kids. (You know they do that on purpose, don’t you, Ralph?)
2 On the day after Christmas, do not bother everyone with that new video camera you received. If you do, at best, you may be told to leave the house and go record birds or something. At worst, your camera will be confiscated and only eligible for return after New Year’s day. (Why on Earth did you get a gift that no one wants to enjoy with you? Maybe it was the one hundred hints that drove the decision.)
1 On the day after Christmas, do not try to make up for the lousy gifts you gave everyone. If you do, at best, it will cost way more than you have. At worst, your efforts will not be appreciated and will serve as the basis for lessons for your children. (Next year, start shopping before December 24th, Oliver.)
The sound of coffee being produced by the AI that is the cursed machine brings a feeling of joy to the heart. It is coffee that seals the overall cozy feeling that life is worth living. Without coffee, a barren wasteland that is barely existence unfolds in front of even the most optimistic soul.
Lucky for me, the machine decides to grant me one more day of bliss. Cup in hand and sip in mouth swallowed, a call goes out to Pepe Le Peu. “Oui Monsieur.” A spin in the direction of the answer reveals Pepe standing in the kitchen. The olfactory message sent to the brain is acknowledged with a nose hold.
Explaining to Pepe that he needs to put on a parachute takes a level of time that could only be described as excruciating. The thick oily scent from his glands is almost too much for the gag response. Finally, a promise of a robe designed by Resa achieves the goal. Unbeknownst to Pepe, the robe doubles as a parachute. Once he is airborne after being shot from the Trebuchet, the robe will gently bring him to Earth.
All is well as the rocket is nestled in the ballista, and Pepe is at ease in the Trebuchet. (sneaking Zanax into his coffee was my idea) He hands me an envelope just before I hit the launch button, which sends the rocket and Pepe screaming off into parts unknown but at least four streets away.
The envelope has a message from Linda Hill. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cozy.'” Use it any way you like. Have fun! (And Merry Christmas if I don’t come back before then!)
Every Christmas, Mike Witmer gets out his colored lights to weave a very specific message out into the night.
Witmer says passersby are sometimes confused by his lights, which read ‘Hi Kevin’ across his roof, but it’s to honor the memory of a young boy who passed away from cancer in 2010.
For the past two decades, he has featured a reference to Kevin in his light displays. Kevin was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 when he was just 11. That year Mike had written ‘Get Well Kevin’ in lights.
The pair had lived on neighboring roads, and Kevin had loved seeing Mike’s light displays each December.
He continued to reference the lad in his lights every year until his tragic death eight years later in June 2010.
Mike vowed to honor Kevin’s life by continuing their much-loved tradition of installing his largest display yet on his roof so that Kevin could still see the lights from above.
“Kevin was a cool kid in the neighborhood. He swam on the local swim team with my kids, and we all became friends,” said Witmer from Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“When I heard he had cancer and was going through chemo and radiotherapy, I wanted to support him. I had this idea to write ‘Get Well Kevin’ in my Christmas lights—what 11-year-old doesn’t want to see their name in lights?”
Witmer continued to do it every year, even after his cancer went into remission and Kevin went off to college.
“But he had just finished his first year of college when the cancer came back—and it took him,” he recalled. “I told everyone to come by that year, and the ‘Hi Kevin’ would be bigger so he can see it from up in heaven.”
“This is my 20th anniversary of the tribute to Kevin, and I’ll keep doing it every year as long as I’m able.”
Kevin’s mother told Witmer that Kevin loved the display so much that he had asked if it would be done every year.
“I thought, ‘how could I not?’ and the tradition was born,” he said.
Every year after that, Mike would find some way to display a tribute to Kevin in his lights display, placing it in a different spot for Kevin to find, like a game of Where’s Waldo.
He recently shared the sweet story of his and Kevin’s relationship in a Facebook post, which was shared widely and attracted thousands of likes and comments by people touched by his tribute.
The good news here is this man brought cheer to someone very much in need. Today’s JohnKu talks about those in need. I hope you have a Joyous Holiday.
In Keith’s words. “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before Sunday evening UK time. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.”
This post was run on December 8th, 2014. We were living on the coast then, and now that we are in a more citified environment, we don’t see many Winter Texans. However, I’m sure this list would still be handy to those living by the Gulf.
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This week’s top ten list is inspired by the fact that we on the South Texas coast are in the process of the annual migration of the northerners, which we call Winter Texans. We like to be friendly to those who choose to winter over here, but it is sometimes tricky. Not all the temporary Texans are the kind of people you want in the community, but since it is almost impossible to weed out the less desirable, we have to take the bad with the good. Interestingly, most of these people are retired, and one would think they learned something in their sixty-five-plus years on this Earth. Since you are not a Winter Texan, I hope you enjoy the list. If you are, then see if it applies to you.
Top Ten Things Not to Do as a Winter Texan
10 If you are a Winter Texan, do not drive your fifth wheel and trailer at forty miles per hour in a sixty-mile speed zone on the main two-lane road. If you do, at best, you may have to put up with the glares and tailgating of those trying to get around you. At worst, you could cause some hothead to take unnecessary risks trying to pass with possible tragic results.
9 If you are a winter Texan, do not fail to respond to a local greeting of “Good Morning.” If you do, at best, the locals will take note of your state and never visit there. At worst, you will convince all locals who come into contact with you that Winter Texans should be avoided and unfriendly. (We Texans put a lot of stock in returned kindness and Good morning is the least of kindnesses)
8 If you are a Winter Texan on a fixed income, do not help yourself to the salt & pepper shakers and sugar packets when you visit a restaurant. If you do, at best, the next person will have to do without. At worst, you will convince the local restaurateur to keep all condiments behind the counter for on-demand use creating an environment of inconvenience for others.
7 If you are a Winter Texan, and want to fish, do not fail to get a license. If you do, at best, you will not contribute to the preservation of coastal fishing that fees provide. At worst, you could find yourself handcuffed over the hood of a Wildlife Ranger’s truck which will be the beginning of a very annoying process that could mean spending some portion of your golden years in jail.
6 If you are a winter Texan, do not go over the catch limits. If you do, at best, you will contribute to declining numbers of certain species. At worst, you could end up like number seven.
5 If you are a Winter Texan, do not allow your dogs or yourself to use the beach as a private outhouse. If you do, at best, you will be contributing to polluting the environment. At worst, you will be breaking the law and could find yourself fined for littering or arrested for indecent exposure. You would have to admit the sight of an unclothed senior citizen would indeed be indecent.
4 If you are a Winter Texan shopping at the local stores, do not slip items into your farm overalls and then forget about them. If you do, at best, you will contribute to higher retail prices to cover shrinkage. At worst, your pants may let go just as you pass the town constable, and the unavoidable noise of products hitting the floor may be too much to ignore, not to mention the view of those “greatest grandparent” boxers.
3 If you are a Winter Texan, do not try to build the biggest bonfire on the beach. If you do, at best, you will need to stay up all night to watch it. At worst, you neglect to stay up all night to watch it, sparks from your conflagration jump to the dunes, and you are responsible for wiping out the west side of town.
2 If you are a Winter Texan, do not drive your dual-wheel pickup near the waterline. If you do, at best, you will contribute to the demise of delicate creatures who come in contact with your heavy tires. At worst, you may start an ecosystem chain reaction that could cause the abandonment of the area by those animals and birds that relied on the delicate creatures as a food source.
1 If you are a Winter Texan, do not leave anything behind. If you do, at best, the locals will spend additional tax money cleaning your mess. At worst, your trash, old fishing line, beer cans, cigarette butts, and six-pack carriers could end the life of a precious being that might be the final straw in the ecological balance. Then folks will really be pissed, and you don’t want that.
