Christmas is upon us, and I wish all my readers a happy and healthy Yuletide season. I especially want to thank Danny Federico for being such a great editor and for being patient with me. I have been privileged to have a column of some type in local newspapers for some 35-plus years. To the outside world, it would seem that our little slice of Florida is more slow-paced, but I have witnessed changes in over three decades of writing. One thing that hasn't changed is Christmas, and for that, I am grateful. I want to thank those in our area who keep the Christmas spirit each year and share it with so many. My mind travels back to memories of family gatherings, the wonderful aroma of great holiday dishes simmering and baking in the kitchen mingling with the fragrance of pine, citrus and wood fires burning in the fireplace. All my Christmas wishes come true each year when I awake on Christmas morning and realize the good Lord has spared me once more to celebrate the birth of our Savior here in my beloved home "Around the Banks of the Suwannee." With all its bumps and warts and with all its glorious natural beauty, there's no place on earth I would rather be than among some of the best people ever "Way down upon the Suwannee River." Merry Christmas to all from the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs.
