“Why me Lord,
what have I ever done - to deserve even one of the BLESSINGS I’ve known?” A line from the song by Johnny Cash and a bunch of other artists! This
kind of sums up a thought in my mind about this Christmas letter. We all count our blessing at Thanksgiving,
but that is often based on material things, whereas Christmas is about
spiritual well being. We tend to get
mixed up this time of year. Gifts and Santa Claus over shadow the “reason for
the season”. JESUS! After all it is called
Christmas.
We have been
BLESSED!
Nate is alive and
well. Married to Pretty Gina and living close by. NO KIDS! Still 6’5” – 230
Lbs. – Full red beard – Mr. Clean head.
Looks more like a biker than a music/film? Producer (which he is). Went to a Royal Palm Hammock with Nate one
afternoon and it was like being with a rock star… Guys and gals (mostly Everglades City crabbers) were coming up to
him and telling him how much they enjoyed his latest CD.. Played it all day
while pulling traps in the Gulf of Mexico – music to crab to. (I tried to
listen to it… but not my style). He has been doing a documentary on the
Ochoppee (O-chop-pee, a town in the Everglades-population 8) Skunk Ape for the
last 6 months with the help of a local character, Dave Sheeley. Dave is the
resident expert on the Florida Skunk ape (kind of like Bigfoot, Yeti, Etc) and
was born and raised in the Everglades, An aside… Gara Ann had Dave in her second grade class when she taught at
Everglades City School 35 yrs ago. Nate has followed Dave around the swamps in
search of the elusive (mythological) creature and interviewed numerous swamp
celebrities (crackers, rednecks and Seminoles) for the film. It will be out by
April (says Nate). I am encouraging him
to do a film on the swamp characters.
Now that would be interesting.
Gara Ann is BUSY! As
always… Church is number 1 with much involvement. Sunday school teacher,
pianist, “team” member, etc. If
the doors are open
she is there. New Pastor (Tim & Karen Neptune) and are we excited! He
brings much energy, ideas, expertise and youth (they have 4 children) to the
church… Did I mention we were
excited? He also brought about half (an
exaggeration) his town of Lodi, OH with him…assistant pastor Ben (wife Erin + 2
children) for children’s ministry & more as well as Aaron Lundquist
(wife Jennifer + 3 children) at our learning center. We are on our way! Business as usual. Real estate is very
active as it has been for the last four years with fantastic appreciation on
anything in Florida. This is a great
time to be involved and Gara Ann is near the top of the class. Her mom is still
in the assisted living home in Fayetteville, AR and Gara Ann visited her 4
times this year. Sister Alice (husband Bob) is nearing “empty nest” with her offspring
graduating and growing up.
Gara Ann made her
(not so yearly) trip to the Yellow Bird Club in Jamaica with her pinky finger??
Girlfriends. Might be the last time as
the resort is sold and might be torn down for a modern hotel…Margot Sturgeon Baker,
Elaine Hansen Warren & Cilla Mow Weber.
She says they are forever friends.
They have been together through ALL levels of school. K through College.
Would have been fun and informative to have been a fly on the wall and hear the
rehashed escapades of that group.
Brother Bill still in Columbia with wife
Vickie and doing well. Gara Ann beseeched me to take her to a Missouri Tigers
game so I broke my October Georgia mountain trip to get her to the game. (They
lost) It was fun visiting the family
and seeing everyone. I spent the game in Nephew Davy’s restaurant and collected
GAM after the game. We were entertained like visiting royalty, as usual.
We visited Alice
& Family on our August trip to Iowa (camped in the front yard like
gypsies). Jim abandoned everything he loves (Harley, Happy, camper and GAM) to
fly (I don’t fly for anything) Home and button down and prepare for a visitor
called Charlie. Missed Marco (did I mention BLESSED) by 50 miles but Nate,
Gina, Mike (Nates tattooist) and I had a fun time. The kids were swimming in
the pool during the worst (60MPH winds). No electricity but we had a small
Generator for refrigerator and TV weather. Back to Ark to resume trip to visit
friends in Iowa. A trip to Okoboji
would not be complete without a party in the garage (Jim Danbom’s). At least 20
people that are associated with or winter in Marco attended with food ala
“bring a dish”. The garage is full of classic autos and memorabilia and is
entertaining by itself.
After all these
years of my roughing it in Georgia (tent camping and van camping) at camp
Martin, Blue Ridge GA, Gara Ann and I bought a cabin. It is literally the next
mountain over from Uncle Joe’s (brother-in-law) and sister Beth’s Last Resort
(hereafter called Hooper’s mountain). We named our cabin the Retreat @ Sunrise
Gap and it is in a subdivision called Mountain Tops. We are adding a garage for
a tool shop and Harley storage and finishing the basement and some other
“necessities”. I cut a path (dirt Bike)
thru the woods to Hooper’s mountain. About 300 Yards compared to 5 miles by
road. Now I have about 20 or so “kin”
the next mountain over and that is something to look forward to. We can still
go over and build a fire at camp Martin and cook out and party down. We look
forward to spending some quality time in the mountains. Dogs, kids, kin and
hillbillies…. It just don’t get no better than that (Blessed again)
Granny (my Mom) has
been up to the Hooper’s a number of times this year and is expecting to spend
the summer in assisted living in Blairsville (next town over). Granny is
getting around very well for 90 yrs old but might be getting a touch more
opinionated with age. She enjoys
church, shopping and clothes and her best friend is Happy.
We have been in the
new home (Blessed again) for a year now and would change very little. My
hideout, Margaritaville, is a work in progress and will never be
complete. I add, “stuff” whenever something catches my fancy. We had originally
discussed a two-year stay in this home, sell it, and build another new home on
the lot next-door. Well…. It might be 2 years before we get this one completely
decorated. Gara Ann has done a
tremendous job on the interior and we might not have another move left in us.
(we is plumb wore out)
Happy… Sure am Glad I waited till I was 60 yrs old
to pick out my first dog.. I made a wise choice. Happy sheds enough hair to fill a bucket weekly (She should be
bald by now), She barks, She is paranoid about trucks, motorcycles and loud
noises, She hates big dogs and will cheerfully tackle a Doberman for no reason
(all 18lbs of her), She demands attention at all times and insists on sleeping
under the covers. Is she fantastic or what? Gara Ann might be my “best” friend
but only because she can talk!
And Gara Ann is my best friend! She is MY
BLESSING and anyone who knows us will agree. We have been blessed with
health, thirty years of marriage, a son to be proud of, a loving extended family, wonderful friends
and a very special church family….but, The
BEST BLESSING of all is found in the
CHRIST of CHRISTMAS. God gave us this
GIFT so we could have a RELATIONSHIP with HIM…. don’t miss the BLESSING by not
accepting HIS GIFT!!
Merry
Christmas from the Martins,
http://www.realtor.marco.net/martin's001.htm