My wife and I made it to a performance of “A Murder is Announced” Friday evening. It was a wonderful event, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly –– including snuggling in a warm blanket.

Kudos to director Kate Loftus, her cast and crew and everyone who had a part in this MidValley Theatre Co. production. I was a bit irked that I didn’t choose the correct villain, but the possibilities were endless.

I had considered searching on Google for the plot earlier in the day and impress my wife with my grand skills of deduction. Alas, I forgot until we were on the way to Lostine.

I know everyone is hoping the next production will be announced soon. What a plum in the Wallowa County pudding to have such a group of talented players.

THE HOLIDAYS are upon us once again, and that means busy times between now and the end of the year. Each year about this time I pledge to myself and anyone who will listen that the hustle and bustle will not get the best of me, and I will spent at least as much time contemplating the reason for the season as anything else.

I’ll admit I’m not much of a gift shopper. I tend to ask my wife what she wants and then take her along to make sure I get it right. Most of our family is a long way off so we have mostly abandoned gift-giving.

Friends and neighbors usually get plates full of my wife’s holiday cookie assortment, which seems to get better each year. Having recently adopted a mostly gluten-free diet for health reasons, eating baked goods is going to be more of a challenge.

Be sure to keep abreast of all of the community activities coming up in the next few weeks. Wallowa County citizens do a terrific job of entertaining themselves.

The weather will be pleasant. That’s my prediction anyway.

Here’s why. We recently opted to put studded tires on our Subaru. Given our luck, that means we will never need them between now and the deadline to remove them. Remember, you heard it here first.

ONE OF those above-mentioned events is the Del McCoury Band at the OK Theatre Nov. 30. It’s not every day you have the opportunity to hear this quality of a concert without traveling to Portland or Spokane.

My wife and I are hard-core Blue Grass fans. The music is upbeat, yet lonesome. It’s a unique sound. There’s really nothing else like it –– and it’s uniquely American.

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock the past year or so, you are well aware of the efforts to bring the OK Theatre back to its previous glory. A lot of time and heart has already gone into the project with more to come.