I really do not want much of anything for Christmas. It is enough these days to have freedom, a warm place to live, enough food to eat, reliable transportation, and some good friends. If I could not have freedom, the rest would not impact me very much and I would live in a cardboard box on the street in January snowstorms in a high crime area if I had to do so in order to have freedom.

However, I recall the Asian proverb I keep in my head:

Happy where I am,

Also willing to improve.

With this in mind, I have made a Christmas Wish List for an adult over 40, still working. I'd be happy with any one of these items.

One gross [144] of ballpoint pens - mostly black ink, with some blue, purple and red. I never have enough pens. I want a shelf or hanging container of some kind across one whole wall of one room, filled with pens, markers, crayons, charcoals for drawing, drafting pencils, drafting triangles, T-squares, etc.

A visit to the International Space Station.

Upon high school graduation there was a a strong movement for me to enter the US Marine Corps and become an engineer, maybe an astronaut or bridge designer At the time I thought. "No way. I don't want to be pounded into the ground in training and then blown up." That was eerily prophetic, as the Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion fulfilled my thoughts in the people we lost on that mission. Although we lost the Columbia Space Shuttle's crew similarly, I think I would enjoy space travel now. However, it is still very expensive. Paul Allen is working on bringing that cost down for us.

Less expensive would be One Week at Space Camp. Send me there, please!

Less expensive still is a One Week Retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky.

Quiet and relaxing, this retreat location provides time for one to digest life up to that point, refuel and continue the journey. It is just as different a world from daily life as is the International Space Station.

One business man went for a short stay and lingered an entire year before returning to his business.

Two Weeks at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Zoo, and the National Arboretum during the week of the yearly US National Pow Wow.

Admission is free. I just need lodging and food. I want to tour the National Museum of the American Indian (it used to be just a hallway) and the Air and Space Museum. Each of these takes more than a day. The African American Museum has been renovated and I would like to see it now as well. The National Zoo should have its new walk-though bird cage completed now; it was a delight to experience when I visited after high school. A bird of paradise sat next to me as I stood by a tree. The National Arboretum is home to a tremendous Bonsai installation that I want to see.

A side-by-side Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic and English version of the Bible with the literal English translations and the historical context presented.

Some translations are more correct than others and some are incorrect. For example, did you know that the King James version changed the English meaning of "helpmeet" or "helpmate" to mean "servant"? The original English meaning of the Hebrew word is "defender." Eve was to be Adam's helper, the word "help" being the same word as in the passage "My help comes from the Lord." This help is powerful and all-conquering; This means to me that if a wife defended the husband that also honored her, together they could not be defeated. I know one young couple that is just exactly like that.I just want to sit and watch them. I want to look at the whole Bible and get the right meaning for the times in which it was written.

Another example is turning the other cheek. During the historical period of the passage, if a man hit you and you turned your head, his natural next move would be to backhand you with the same hand. If he did this, he brought dishonor, shame and embarrassment to himself and onlookers would degrade him. All would know that he was wrong. So, turning the other cheek does not mean to be a pacifist or invite another attack. It means to disengage from an attacker or an abuser in a way that makes them look foolish and impacts them in a way that rings them enlightenment. Coincidentally, we learn his in the martial arts as well. Speaking of which, I'd like

A new Grandmaster's Uniform and Belt and a new set of weapon fans. Mine are all wearing out. I donate 5-10 hours weekly of free classes to the less fortunate, so perhaps I'll receive a gift one day.

A new supply of yarn with which to make more hats for the needy infants and children at Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.

♥

Here's my Miss America wish ("I want world peace..."). I want an end to abuse of all kinds in America.

In revisiting the founding of America/USA for a series of Hubs on US History, I really recognized the abusive control tactics of the British Crown of that day, exerted to control the Colonists. This is not a criticism of England today, just of the system as it was in 1775 - If you control something too much, you control it right out of existence. I've seen many businesses go out of business because of this! The precedent for abuse in this country is so clear to me now and being so clear, I think it gives us a chance to put clear remedies into place in our own era, beginning with education. And ensuring that all of our citizens in USA have adequate food, shelter, clothing, transportation, education, and health care; we stop waste and use more "green" living; and everyone has enough useful, rewarding, fun work or other activities to do. Elect me president, please. No, don't. To paraphrase Groucho Marx - I wouldn't be a citizen of any country that would elect me its leader.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!