Emily Paine Carter

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It's too chilly for rocking-chair chats on a literal "Front Porch," so pretend we're all huddled around the ol' potbellied stove with a lovely cup of hot chocolate. (And never mind our real "pot bellies," thank you very much.)

Now for year-end updates:

• You might recall a May 25 column and photo of former Salemite and praised winemaker John Ogden and newly adopted daughter Milla in Moscow's Red Square.

Now, reports John's mom Pam Ogden, John and wife Margaret Ryan have added another "little precious": Nadya, adopted from a nursery in Kirov, Russia.

Pam e-mailed that the couple had much "immigration red tape" (no pun intended) to plow through before bringing Nadya to her new San Francisco home -- where that beaming grandma "Mimi" (Pam) joyfully visited them for two weeks.

She explained that the little girl's tears in one photograph sent to me were "the result of John holding her. She had never seen a man before and was terrified. All's well now."

• Like many other Roanoke Valley residents, we waited through a whopping list of "Bee Movie" credits to see the name of Salem-boy-goes-Hollywood Paolo deGuzman.

Judging by the list of names, Jerry Seinfeld's animated movie demanded a pile of work. Paolo's credit was on a line all unto itself: "lead surfacer." He had explained his duties in the July 6 column: surfacers use computers to "give life" and color to the gray films.

Bless his conscientious heart, in November he e-mailed to ask if we had seen the movie -- still doing well at the box office at the time of my writing this -- and if so, what we thought.

Paolo also sent a photo of his team and him with Mr. Seinfeld. So, thanks to Paolo's dream job at DreamWorks, his artistic feats bring a "brush" with greatness.

• Liz Deichmann Wickens wrote that she has chuckled over references to the "Broad Street Broads" of my current and her former Salem neighborhood. She e-mailed that she, Milly Ross and Pat Stone "thought we were so clever and slightly risque in calling ourselves by that moniker."

In an e-mail she added that a column about class reunions "also ignited memories ... Our class will be having its AL [Andrew Lewis High School] 50th [in 2008], and, as you've said, the planning is a laughing, wonderful time" -- and a reminder "that we haven't changed all that much, except for the obvious."

• In other reunion feedback, Roanoker Cathye Dabney Edwards charmingly challenged my "ALHS Class of '67 (The Best)" claim. A still-perky former Patrick Henry cheerleader, Cathye's loyalty remains with her class of that same year. But hey, we're so beyond trying to settle such school-rivalry matters with a fight in the Lendy's drive-in restaurant parking lot. Ah, good times.

• Salem High School student and cyclist Harrison Freund has recovered from being hit by a truck in New York City (May 18 story).

• In other "healing" news, Glenvar's Jimmy and Joe Gladden are finally back on their feet following their health crises and accidents -- although Joe's severed Achilles tendon remains troublesome. A June 29 column encouraged folks to attend a benefit concert -- staged by some of their many friends -- to help these philosophical cabinetmakers with medical bills.

And oh, music fans and fans-of-Jimmy-and-Joe rallied indeed, for which the two remain grateful.

Although the year had some profound joy and miracles, the Gladdens join those of us glad to usher 2007 and its bag-of-challenges to the door.

So, consider this my prayer for all: Happy New Year (please)!

Part one of two. ...