Christmas is a comin’ and the geese are getting fat, please to
put a penny in an old man’s hat, if you haven’t got a penny a
ha’penny will do, if you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God bless you
… that’s the song Uncle Dick Blach used to lead the children in
at Christmastime many moons ago.
Christmas is a comin’ and the geese are getting fat, please to put a penny in an old man’s hat, if you haven’t got a penny a ha’penny will do, if you haven’t got a ha’penny, then God bless you … that’s the song Uncle Dick Blach used to lead the children in at Christmastime many moons ago. This year I’ll get to sing it to my grandson, Jackson, for the first time. It says a lot, and it’s a good segue into a few all-over-the-board reflections and observations which are, after all, part and parcel to the season …
Gilroy generosity never ceases to amaze me. Toy drives, food donations and gift tag events sprout up everywhere. Though times are tough for many, Gilroyans share with glad hearts. It really is part of our town’s culture. There are also many like Nick Seaton (see story on page A6 today) who take the time and effort to brighten lives with sweet and crrrunnnchy treats … random acts of kindness are wonderful, so are the not-so-random variety.
If you have a good measure of peace in life, treasure it. In the human chaos that swirls around us, it’s a true blessing that’s certain not to last.
Our middle daughter had to have an emergency appendectomy while away at college a year or so ago and the total bill came to more than $90,000 – $90 grand for two days in the hospital, a brief surgical procedure and three bad meals a day. Something’s terribly wrong with our healthcare system. We’re still paying off what insurance didn’t cover, and I think about healthcare in America every time I write another check, but I don’t know what the answer is … funny thing is, she’s headed to nursing school soon.
One of my favorite people to see at the coffee shop, besides proprietors Konni and Kassie, is Lynda Trelut. She’s as sharp a reader (i.e. critical in a constructive way) as the Dispatch has and, since she walks all over town, her observations are both witty and thoughtful.
I wish I could run into our former mayor, Mike Gilroy, at the coffee shop. The town really misses his leadership, and I miss his battle-tested – and I mean that literally in a way that I can’t exactly explain – wisdom and his warm friendship. Merry Christmas in the Lone Star state, Mike, Texas’ gain is our loss.
American heroes – Gilroyans Jeramy Ailes and David Gutierrez – sacrificed their lives in the service of our great country. Freedom is not free, and regardless of your thoughts about America’s presence in the Middle East, the fact is that no major terrorist attack has been carried out on our soil since the 9/11 tragedy that took nearly 3,000 lives in 2001. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts to all the families of those in military service. It would be wonderful if Gilroyans paid tribute to our two fallen soldiers by laying wreaths and flowers upon their graves. That would certainly touch the hearts of their loved ones on Christmas. It would only take a few minutes and mean so much.
Don Gage has extended his incredible political career to the Santa Clara Valley Water District. What’s most incredible is that it’s been all local public service. As a reformer, he’s going to be swimming upstream at the water district, by far the most gluttonous government agency this side of the Sierra Nevada range.
Public employees may feel put upon these days with furloughs and tight budgets, but exhorting them to take money out of the Gilroy Rotary Club charitable pot to soothe their feelings is oddly symptomatic.
My Italian grandfather, Angelo, had to fight off polio when he was young. He exercised daily in the Sutro Baths in San Francisco, building back his strength. I’m fortunate to have visited the town in Italy, Campodonico, where his family came from. The memory, like the taste of the Christmas ravioli smothered in Bolognese sauce, stays with me. It’s good to know where you came from.
Whenever I go to buy a greeting card for my wife I run into gobs of sentiments of this variety – you know, the ones that say, “Sorry, I don’t always …” (fill in the blank with say I love you enough, help around the house or some other over-the-top drooling apology). That bugs me. It says something about the state of American manhood. If you need to apologize – and don’t we all – be a man, say it straight from the heart and move on, don’t wait to buy a blubbering card.
Still hard to fathom that the San Francisco Giants won a World Series Championship. It’s a magical and unlikely season that we Giants fans will replay in bits and pieces for the duration of our lives. And how cool is it that today’s technology has made it possible to sub in the regular Giants announcers, Jon Wallace Miller, Mike Edward Krukow and Duane Eugene Kuiper, for the lousy network announcers in replays of the title game. Giants fans had to wait 52 years for a title, but we’ve always had the very best broadcasters – Lon Simmons, Russ Hodges, Hank Greenwald …
Didn’t know until a couple of days ago that Gilroy’s own ace, former major league pitcher Frank LaCorte, roomed with Giants skipper Bruce Bochy back when both played for the Houston Astros … ah, there’s always a Gilroy connection. Merry Christmas everyone.
Reach Editor Mark Derry at
ed****@ga****.com
