Christmas Letter 1999
Christmas Letter 1999
Copyright © 1999, By Odell Sneeden Hathaway III
Dear Friends!
I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy year 2000. It’s hard to believe that another year has passed and that we’re looking at the end of the millennium next year (the new millennium starts in 2001).
This has been an eventful year for me. I spent most of it working on the Y2K problem. Fortunately, I’ve completed all my upgrades, and all my customers are safe to start the 2000s.
This spring, I had a rather serious accident. I was mowing the lawn in my backyard—I have a stream back there and have to lower the mower over the edge to cut the grass. While I was doing this, my left leg slipped out from underneath me, and my body pivoted around my right knee. It was very painful, to say the least. I managed to avoid going to the doctor, but I could just barely walk for weeks and couldn’t go upstairs using that knee. I had to use my good leg to lift myself. This really put a crimp in my year. I’m still limping a little and have only recently started using both knees when going upstairs.
I do have better news on the medical front. Last fall my doctor put me on the Zone diet, and I’ve lost nearly 50 pounds. I’m below 200 for the first time since high school.
In September I took my first trip to Scotland. (I don’t know if I’ll be going back.) It seems they do everything backwards over there! I knew they drove on the wrong side of the road—but when they walk, they pass each other on the wrong side as well. Crossing the street was a nightmare, because the cars come at you from the left instead of the right. They even turn their lights on upside down—here we push the switch up to turn on the light; there, they push down!
The worst part of the trip was the two hours I spent driving. That was a huge mistake. I don’t know if it was my dyslexia or if they’re just crazy over there, but I could not drive on the wrong side of the road. I got my car and started driving. It went okay for about a block—then I needed to turn right. Well, instinct took over and I pulled all the way to the right (wrong!). Suddenly people were honking at me. I looked up to the right to check the rearview mirror, but it wasn’t there—it was on the left! Somehow I managed to get out of Edinburgh without killing anyone or getting killed. But the highway was no better. I kept bumping into the curb because I thought there should be more cars on my left than on my right. I know that if I really wanted to, I could have learned to drive there—but I was on vacation! I was passing beautiful countryside and not seeing any of it. My hands were shaking and I was almost in tears. After two hours, I gave up and got on the train for the rest of my trip. The Brits have great trains.
Don’t get me wrong—I did have some good times over there. I visited the surgery of James Herriot, the writer, and they have a wonderful exhibit there. That was the highlight of the trip. I’ve been a big fan of his for years, and finally seeing the places I’d read about for so long was amazing. I also visited the school where Captain Cook studied and took a boat trip on Loch Ness (no sightings, though). I even stayed for a week at a community called the Findhorn Foundation, learning about their way of life.
I got a very interesting piece of email this year. In July, a wonderful and beautiful woman named Linda responded to my ad on the internet. We exchanged a few letters and then had our first date. We’ve been together every chance we get since then. I wish I could tell you that the course of true love always runs smooth, but in this case it runs to Astoria, Oregon—about 90 miles away on the coast. It’s a long-distance relationship and can be difficult at times, but we’re making it work and having a good time in the meantime. She’s a medical transcriptionist right now but is studying to be either a nurse or an environmental lawyer.
Well, I hope that the year now ending has been a good one for all of you, and that the year to come is filled with love and joy.
Love,
Odell
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