AULD LANG SYNE

Here we are, hanging at the precipice of the New Year, ready to jump. We will still have two of our daughters here, so we will celebrate out with the old and in with the new at home, joined only by my wife's sister and husband, both British but who own a condo here in Sanibel Island and stay until mid-January, and perhaps a few close friends. We stay at home on New Years and have for a long time. On this island, comprised of a majority of "grey beards", it is standard operating procedure. In fact, invariably when you entertain on Sanibel Island, you can be reasonably certain that, come the stroke of nine o'clock, your guests will rise as one and depart. Nine o'clock is referred to as "Sanibel Midnight"! Who knows, we may be daring on this special night and stay up until eleven!

The end of the year is tax time here. We don't have a state income tax, so the local county tax collectors sock it to you with high property taxes. You have from November until the end of March to pay them, with an obvious increase in taxes the longer you take. I always pay them by the end of December so that I can get the tax deduction for income tax purposes in the current year. It is a large and painful bite---but better, I guess, than a state income tax. It's like the old Tennessee Ernie Ford lyrics to "Sixteen Tons": "...another day older and deeper in debt."

It has been a wonderful holiday season with so much of our family here for a good part of it. The older you get, the more you appreciate family and the poignancy of realizing that the days are dwindling with increasing speed and should be treasured.

I make a resolution: May we live in better times and in greater contentment in 2011. I wish that sentiment for all of you. God bless you.