In an age of artificial intelligence – will we have a choice about change, or will change happen to us – regardless of our desires, wants, and needs?

On this most squirrelly of “holidays,” Groundhog Day, I am reminded that no matter what our age, we must constantly respond to change, as change is the only constant in life. We must be able to adapt to changing circumstances, no matter what stage of life we find ourselves in.

Know that I am grateful for Groundhog Day.

If not for Groundhog Day, I would not know how to spell “Punxsutawney,” nor would I know where Punxsutawney is on a map. (Hint: Punxsutawney is midway between Oliveburg and Big Run).

I will be the first to admit that my entire life has been shaped by the game of basketball.

Basketball organized my time; gave me goals (literally and figuratively) to which to aspire, and paid for much of my college education.

There were all sorts of life lessons embedded in my experience of being a non-scholarship D1 basketball walk-on. But that was decades ago.

What about life lessons that one can glean today, in 2024, from a basketball game in which I was just a spectator?

I am not big on making New Year’s resolutions.

Why should I resolve to do something on January 1st that I should have been doing all year long?

The best resolutions I have had in my life occurred when I just went ahead and finally did something I had meant to do for a long time.

It is important that anything I resolve to do be of a positive nature.

I had a really crappy year back in the 1980s when my resolution was “No More ‘Mr. Nice Guy’”

Social isolation and self-loathing followed.

We all know that everyone leaves this life, and our time on earth is finite.

Nonetheless, when we get the word that someone important in our lives has passed, it still jolts us.

That was the way it was this week when I got the word that Ed Crutchfield had died.

When famous people die, we get reacquainted with them through pictures of when they were at the peak of their powers.

In Ed Crutchfield’s case, we get to see photos from when he was CEO of First Union in the ‘80s and ‘90s, standing in front of One First Union Center, the new headquarters built in order to accommodate the growth of the interstate bank that Crutchfield had assembled through 60-some mergers.

I am exhausted.

I am standing in front of the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh. I am gassed. I presented to a board of directors this morning at 9:00 AM. I had arrived at the Omni William Penn Hotel at 2:30 AM. I am operating on fumes. My arrival in Pittsburgh was delayed for three hours because some jerk clogged up the toilet on the last Delta Airlines flight to Pittsburgh, thus delaying our departure by two hours. When the plane lavatory doesn’t work, the pilot is not allowed by the FAA to take off, even if the pilot doesn’t need to use the bathroom.

I hope whoever clogged up the Delta lavatory gets cow turds in their stocking for Christmas.

Tis the season to be jolly, so that is where this is going. I'm getting excited about the holidays. The house is decorated, and the Christmas tree is up. Somewhere, there are chestnuts roasting on an open fire and tiny tots with their eyes all aglow from leftover Halloween candy. What an exciting time!

The holiday cards are starting to fill our mailbox, allowing me to catch up on births and marriages, new addresses, and new grandchildren. This time of year is where we glean the real skinny on how friends are doing via the traditional Holiday Letter.

I have never been one to write a holiday letter, and in keeping with that tradition, I will not attempt to do that here. If I did write the holiday letter, I would limit its contents to my accomplishments during the past year. Such as: