As any true blue Holabird resident knows, it's not really Christmas until Ed and Barbara Nemec send the invitations to their Christmas Party that they have at their house every year. And that is just what was found in the home office's mailbox this afternoon. This year, the fun begins at 7 pm Friday, December 16 and never ends.

Up here in South Dakota we just recovered from a Historic event may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" - with a historic ice storm and blizzard of up to 24" inches of snow, with winds to 50-60 MPH that broke trees in half, snapped poles and lines, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come....
FEMA staged nothing....
No one howled for the government...
No one even uttered an expletive on TV...
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House....
No one looted....
Phil Cantori of the Weather Channel did not come....
And Geraldo Rivera did not move in.
Nope, we just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people out of snow
engulfed cars and homes, we fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or
Aladdin lamps, and put on an extra layer of clothes because up here it is 'work or die'.
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created
by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early...We know
it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves. For those wondering why we choose
to live in a state where we can have such bad winters; We have low crime rates, great
education and only 11 people per square mile. I am glad to raise my children here.
I am proud to be a South Dakotan!

Last year, a few hundred Readers. This year, there's over 10,000. Last year, I sent 15 Christmas cards. This year, I sent 75. I am truly living in overflow, and the blessings just keep on coming. It's like that scene from "A Christmas Carol" Scrooge laughs and says, "I don't deserve to be so happy, but I am!"

The selection of a Person of the Year, which Todd Epp shortened to POTY, was easy for me. It's caused quite a stir on South Dakota Magazine Road Stories and South Dakota Politics blogs, and as a result causes a lot of folks to log on here. Do I deserve it? Maybe so or maybe no. Either way I've got it. Even the snow has come in overflow.

So what does it all mean? Perhaps it's just my turn. In a week or so, that blog from Ortley, South Dakota will catch on and leave me in the dust. That'll last until election season. Then we'll all be burning computer time trying to get our incumbents drummed out of office or retained in the same, depending on our point of view. It all comes in cycles.

Like the song says, "Old man trouble, I don't mind him! You won't find him at my door" Of course not! It's to cussed cold. So until the outside world intrudes on us, let's put the kettle on, make a cup of hot chocolate, sit by the computer, and enjoy the overflow.