
I need all my friends, friends of friends, family of friends, and total strangers to nominate She Learned to Die for the Kindle Scout program. Please click the link and cast your nomination. You need to have an Amazon account. In theory, the books with the most votes are considered by Amazon for a Kindle publishing contract. The value to the writer is the Amazon publicity machine should drive sales. Of course, I belong to the hope-springs-eternal club.
The early marketing of the holiday season, primarily Christmas, almost turned me into Scrooge this year. I understand that for retailers all holidays are about sales and to some people only about buying or receiving gifts. But Christmas and Hanukkah decorations up before Halloween is extreme, and given the meaning of Halloween, maybe inappropriate all around
I walked by a huge display of decorations in Home Depot and stared straight ahead, my focus on the door to the garden shop—my favorite place of late. Early appearing holiday lights on homes elicited the same gut-level avoidance response.
With Thanksgiving passed—heaven knows we had plenty of cause for thanks—I'm ready to move on with the holiday season. My switch is literally on. Steve put up my outside lights. They look splendid this year, in my opinion—traditional old-fashioned big bulbs on the house and scrubs—even if our technique is somewhat unimaginative. Now, I'll smile at the lights in the neighborhood as they appear, enjoying every bit of happiness and color.

Everyone who knows me is aware of my love of elephants.
I don't want ivory, though I have a tiny piece from my dad tucked away. It's a dilemma. I don't want to disrespect my parent's gift, but I also don't want to disrespect the elephants either. I choose to decorate our home with pictures, stuffed toys, and elephant figurines made from all manner of materials, but not ivory. I adorn myself with elephant jewelry--plastic, wood, stone, gold--and the occasional piece of clothing.
Even better though is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. They are doing amazing work to save Africa's elephants. They have many ways to celebrate your holidays by supporting the elephants and other animals they rescue. A true gift for the holidays is helping to save these wonderful beings for the future.
Last Christmas, Benjamin adopted an elephant for me—Quanza. She is beautiful. It has been a present I've enjoyed all year long through the emailed pictures and reports of her progress. Of course, I follow the Wildlife Trust on Facebook, read about their ongoing work, and marvel at the magnificence of elephants.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Later.
GEB