Christmas Perils, Dalai Lamas and Bedroom Activity

One of the perils at this time of year is the annual rite of sending Christmas cards and wrapping presents.  Although I find the whole process onerous and time consuming I do enjoy the finished product. It may seem silly to send a card to someone you haven't seen for years and haven't contacted since the last Christmas card but I do think it's important to keep in touch with people even if it only happens once a year. There was an occasion this year  when contact was resumed after almost 30 years of card sending. Last May I met an old friend on the Greek island of Symi who I'd last seen there in the mid 1980s. A major peril at card writing time is the fact that you might be blissfully unaware of significant changes that have happened during the year. Regular readers will know that I am of a certain age. It follows that many of my friends are of a similar age or even older. Sadly, one or two have departed this mortal soil and the odds of this happening increase each year that passes. Today I received a card informing me that someone's husband had died earlier this year. Mercifully although I had written their card, fate had intervened and it had not yet been posted. Another peril looms as we approach the last day of posting. From time to time I conduct a little weeding exercise in my address database. This is a task I do rather unwillingly as I loath deleting names. It's a reluctant admission that I have finally lost an albeit tenuous contact with someone. I only take this course after a couple of years but it's a sure bet that the day after the last posting date a card will arrive from someone who has been "weeded" The horns of the Dalai Lama rear up once again. Do I send a card that has obviously been hastily posted after receipt of theirs?; do I lie and send a letter claiming the computer had crashed/been stolen/been eaten by the dog I don't have?; do I bite the Christmas bullet and do nothing thus ensuring that contact will be lost? An even sadder and thankfully rare occurence is having my card returned marked "not at this address" Was this an oversight or was the friendship so casual to them that I wasn't considered worthy of a change of address card?

More perils lurk in the bedroom. This is Day 7 of the futon the floor. This morning as I sleepily reached over to switch off the alarm I hit my head on the side of the ottoman which at present rears over the side of the mattress/futon. Luckily the ottoman has a padded covering which is a lot kinder to the face than the pine bedding chest I have been considering as a replacement. I am certain that the A&E department of the local hospital has had many strange causes of injury but I wonder whether switching off the alarm clock figures among them.

On a brighter note I received word from the manufacturers that the new bed base will be delivered next Friday.  Santa has hopefully been kind to Kojak and I shall tempt fate by announcing that the days of the futon are numbered. A welcome bit of activity in the bedroom department.