An Open Letter To My Brother Tobin

Hey Tobe-
The soundtrack to this letter is the Paul Simon Collection, starting with “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard” (you know why I start with that song). It is a bit chilly outside, and it is one week and one day until Christmas. Our Christmas party was on Thursday, and it was great. Tim bought a $4 Santa outfit so thin you could see through it and stuffed it with pillows to make him look fatter. We ate loads of cookies and sang Christmas carols, and heard the Croatian versions of some of them (Jingle Bells became “Zlon chi-chi!, zlon chi-chi!” etc.). Much later there were rousing renditions of Father Abraham and, yes, the Hokey Pokey. [I must admit here that I personally was not involved in either of these dances, as I was deep in important philosophical conversation about Star Trek, ‘24’, and, later, the French spiritual meditative practice known as Taize; but, in all honesty, I kind of wish I had been in the other room participating because I really don’t foresee another opportunity like that coming my way any time soon…] You may wonder if the Croatians think we are crazy, and the answer is a resounding ‘absolutely, more than you can imagine!’ Seriously, who busts out with the hokey pokey in their mid-twenties, especially without alcohol or other mind-altering chemicals involved? I do not know, but it was fun and memorable, and more people came on Thursday than have ever come to any event we have had all year. It was a great way to end the semester.
At this point I must remind you of our soundtrack as the current song is ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’, and I recall fondly your tendency to try to remember enough of the lyrics to sing a few lines from time to time in the kitchen or car or elsewhere. Paul Simon is truly amazing, I mean, ‘coy’ and ‘Roy’, ‘Stan’ and ‘plan’, ‘key’ and ‘Lee’ – very clever. He’s even better with Garfunkel, though.

At this point I would like to ask how Sunny the dog and Bob the cat are doing, and how our business Seven Seas Services is going, and if you have seen the hermit recently, and how David and the Caseys are, and about the rest of the family, of course, but you can’t answer me and this forum is a bit too public to ask anything more personal, so I will sign off now. Talk to you soon.