We received our Sanford family Christmas card the other day.

It's pretty swell, a nice photo of the family - the governor, his wife and their four boys in a nice, generic outdoor pose.

Remember last year's Sanford card? It was nice, too, but it carried a family photograph taken in West Point, N.Y. The governor, it seems, was trying to stress the importance of military service.

It also turned out to be grist for a column.

West Point, I wrote at the time, is a nice place to visit, but it's not exactly the Lowcountry.

When I suggested that a more appropriate scene might be South Carolina's beach or mountains, I received a nice note from the governor.

"Bob," it said, "you always seem to keep things moving with your columns ... and, in the process, make me think about people's reactions in a way I otherwise would not."

I never asked, but methinks the governor realized his faux pas in offering a photo out of New York rather than South Carolina. He's a quick learner, is he not?

The Sanford card also brings us up to date on what the family has been doing during 2004.

Some of it is pretty ordinary - "Marshall found a wild bunny that we kept for a couple of weeks in the mansion" - but some of it makes our own 2004 feats seem downright pedestrian.

It notes, for instance, that "Mark's continued willingness to challenge wasteful spending led to a number of positive developments for our state, including the repayment of many old unconstitutional debts and $125 million in direct savings to taxpayers."

See what I mean?

How many of you saved taxpayers $125 million this year?

The best thing I did was rescue a turtle that was trying to cross a busy road. Hardly worth mentioning.

Sharing the road

In a column last week, I wrote that I had never seen "Share the Road" signs in South Carolina. It was a true statement but the wrong message.

"We've installed more than 45 'Share the Road' signs over the past two years," Myrtle Beach Public Information Officer Mark Kruea told me. "We'll be adding more as we build more roads."

I am happy to set the record straight. And ever since the call, I've been seeing the signs everywhere. So it goes.

ONLINE | For past columns, go to the Bestler page at MyrtleBeachOnline.com.