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It was warm and muggy in the western Caribbean last week, as one might expect, but comfortable for the most part on deck. Below deck was a different story. It was cold. We kept turning the thermostat up in our room till the icicles hanging off our noses finally went away. Though we were out in the mornings, we did work up a sweat walking around Cozumel and Georgetown but we didn’t stay out long enough in Falmouth to get that hot.
It was hard to get the Christmas spirit in such a sunny clime, but the Disney Wonder we sailed on did its best. There were lots of Christmas decorations and themes to complement the Christmas cookies and hot chocolate on offer. Santa Claus was sighted. The Wylie women may have had their picture taken with him along with all the various Disney characters but I can’t be sure. We couldn’t keep up with Clan Wylie nor their accomplices the Romeros. Five really cute little girls in all. Heck, Disney, Inc. should have paid the parents for the privilege of getting their characters’ pictures taken with them.
I recommend Disney cruises for those who like to be around a lot of people, especially scantily-clad, plump ones, and little kids.
Thanksgiving came and went. A good time was had by all. Joyce and I were able to get our Christmas decorating done between that and leaving on the cruise. There were some really nice days before we left that made it easier to get the job done. We were thankful we didn’t have it do when we got back.
Yesterday we got to watch the Abster in action in what is no doubt the last volleyball action for her as a semi-pro. Many of her teammates have signed to play with various colleges but Abigail is moving on to other things. Though she tried to explain yesterday’s tournament at WT, I still don’t understand what it was for. It was along the lines of an all-star game with teams being made up of seniors from area schools. Abigail didn’t want to play but did, trooper that she is. Her team just missed winning the, uh, championship. Oh well, there’s always next year. No, wait, no there isn’t.
We just missed making an extra trip to the Metroplex next weekend. The Tascosa football team played in the state 6A semi-final yesterday evening at Cowboys stadium, the farthest the team had advanced since I was a junior in high school. Alas, they fell to an undefeated team from Longview, the third undefeated team they faced in the playoffs. The Rebels had three losses early in their season before getting settled in to playing winning football. Had they won to advance to the championship game, they would have again been playing in Jerry’s World. Well I remember the 7 to 6 semi-final loss to Garland played in a norther in Dick Bivins Stadium here in Amarillo back in ’63. When we lived in Garland I would occasionally hear from someone from there that claimed they were at the game and nearly froze to death.