Six days

Before I forget... While it is tradition to celebrate either the end of the old year or the start of a new year... or, to even just welcome the new year, if you don't do anything I wouldn't do, you are apt to remain safe. Really!

Unlike my friend (I'm pretty sure we're friends), Suldog, I won't be making any resolutions other than to stay the course.
BTW -that link won't take you to his blog, which for the first time in recent memory has a Saturday post.

We're trying again.
It has nothing everything to do with how many days of Christmas are left.
Remember how we didn't connect with my daughter in Grass Valley?
Well, we're going to try again (thank goodness for the twelve days of Christmas, eh? [that's about all the Canadian I know]).
We're even going to meet up in Grass Valley even though the Cornish Christmas thing is done.
The weather folks, in their great wisdom, predict sunshine and temps in the 60s [we'll see].

yeah, there's another batch of cookies

Seven

Does anyone have a clue what I'm doing with these numbered posts?

I mean anyone... even me.

I did manage to have a little tie-in yesterday, but I can't say any of the recent posts have been brilliant.

I saw a quick blurb on the local news (well, not actually the news, but a teaser for the news) that a gray wolf has found its way into California. The local rag also reported it today. Nobody's actually seen the wolf. It has supposedly been outfitted with some kind of tracking device. So far he has been tracked from Northeastern Oregon (somewhere near Idaho). The last known sighting of a gray wolf (or any wolf) in the wild in California was in 1924.

Ooh... look! It's finally raining

The roses and the chrysanthemums still have blooms. I might mention now that the roses were slightly underwatered last summer (as in never)

About that rain... there's been some threat for the last couple of days. It just never materialized. According to the weather mavens this year the weather is not normal. In my humble opinion, if the weather mavens were from around here and had been paying attention, they would realize no two years are alike. That's normal.

My favorite weather story ...oh, crap! Here he goes... is about the weather geeks who, in their great wisdom, determined it would take Shasta Lake five years to refill after the drought of the late '70s. I will admit it looked pretty bleak. The following winter there was about 45 inches of rainfall and the lake went right to the top.

I've always been a sucker for pictures of the Mustang

ha, now I remember
.

Eight (days left)

=]V[= offered a little challenged based on another post. I thought, "I can do that!" Only I decided to pitch a change-up. I want to write about places.

That's right. It's about places where I'd like to hang out for awhile... in some of those places it would be a return trip (because I enjoyed myself so much the first time). So in no particular order of preference, here are the eight places I'd like to hang out for awhile:

1. Boston - I remember two things about my first visit. There was some kind of parade that I couldn't see because I was only about three feet tall at the time and there was some huge fire in a factory on the other side of a hill. I didn't see the fire, either
2. Memphis - One word: Barbecue
3. Savannah - We only spent part of one day there. You can't see enough in one day
4. Ashland, Oregon - Shakespeare and more... and there's no sales tax
5. Northwest Wyoming - Another one word explanation: Yellowstone
   
6. The Mother Lode - I've seen parts of it, but I' like to follow highway 49 from one end to the other for a week or more
7. Washington, D.C. - One word again: Smithsonian. There's more nearby, too
8. Philadelphia - I was only three feet tall the first time I was there, too

There are lots more places I'd like to hang out, some of which have been visited before, but I'll save them for another number day. Some of those places are even outside of the USA.

don't do music all that well
'cause I can't remember
artists names (or lyrics,either),
which is why I don't do
people, either...
can't remember their names
.

Nine (days to go, that is)

I dunno what's going to happen then.
Maybe that's when the next original post will go up?

What is it about the days after Christmas that causes some minds to go fallow?

notice who's avatar has changed
.

Most interesting (ten more days)

I didn't have anything new, so I thought to look and see what I posted a year ago.



It must be the season?

The count is up to 38 40

the typos are still there
.

Only eleven more days

Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
Nora's freezin' on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!

Don't we know archaic barrel
Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don't love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo!
Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you!

Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon,
Willy, folly go through!
Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo!

Dunk us all in bowls of barley,
Hinky dinky dink an' polly voo!
Chilly Filly's name is Chollie,
Chollie Filly's jolly chilly view halloo!

Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof!
Tizzy seas on melon collie!
Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!

it was either that
or '99 bottle of beer'
.

This seems appropriate

_

.

I left one out

Yesterday was Festivus.
Also known as a festival for the rest of us.
When I was making my list for Why I like Thanksgiving II, I had entirely forgotten about it. Odds are I will forget about it again as soon as I finish the post. I mean, really, who needs to wait all year to air one's grievances?
Heck... who needs to air them?
Grievance is just another word for resentment. Having (and nurturing) a resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the offender to die.
Whatever the issue, we have some part in it. So look real close at whatever it is that's causing the issue to see our part in it. Then let it go.

The best part of the whole thing is when we do that, we end up with a smile on our face and everyone else wonders what we are up to.

!

Back in the day when I was still young and impressionable it seemed like my parents house filled with friends and relatives at Christmas time. Unless I'm mistaken, all of my stepdad's relatives were immigrant Swedes, who brought all many of the customs of Scandinavia to this country with them. I somehow got the impression that one of those customs was they didn't much seem to like one another because nobody ever had I seldom heard anyone say anything nice about anyone else.
They always showed up, though ...and within minutes of one another, even though they'd traveled different distances from different directions. Eventually, when I was older I figured out why non of them ever missed a family gathering and always showed up on time. The hosts would be sure, when the invitations were made, to announce who was invited. That ensured everyone would show up so that nobody else could talk about them. Everyone stayed until the bitter end, too, for the very same reason.

must have been all that lutefisk
.

Where was this yesterday?

I don't have a problem with posting pictures of Stonehenge and I suppose it is a reasonably good example for the Winter Solstice. But today's post on APOD works so much better.


Click it to enlarge so you can see the Sun at the other end

Stonehenge is pretty awesome though
.

Why I like Thanksgiving II

Chanukah


Winter Solstice


Kwanzaa


Christmas

It's only one day and I know when to celebrate
...and it's okay to say 'Happy Thanksgiving' without someone taking offense.

I've nothing against any of the above occasions. In fact, Christmas is a big deal in our house. We love exchanging gifts and the symbolism it represents. We certainly have a hard time getting around the commercialism.

Remember how I said we didn't get around to Christmas cards? I should have said, "...yet!"
They may be late not arrive this year, but we sent them off and by my calculations everyone should receive them by Little Christmas, on January 6.

Anyway... there are any number of celebrations at this time of year that carry a spiritual meaning which is more important than anything material and would do for all to respect and attempt to emulate.

in memory of
Pointy the poinsettia
who, me... serious?

Saw this on Facebook

had to repost
.

Antidote

An acquaintance sent me some People of Walmart [no I won't link it]. I needed a heavy dose of cute...



...not saccharin sweet cute, oops cute!

what?
.

deja vu

My good friend, the Brighton Pensioner, said it best.
We've had a change of plans. Right after I loaded the car, I switched on the cell phone [it's seldom on when we're home... unless I'm making a long distance call]. There was a voicemail message and a text. The voicemail was from my son-in-law [I may get used to that someday] telling us they were unable to meet us in Grass Valley because my daughter was up most of the night with some stomach issues [yes, I like euphemisms].

The text was from my daughter... at 2:15am, saying she thinks it may be food poisoning.

I have two concerns. First, I hope she feels better soon and is able to rest. Second, I hope the cookies I baked for them... aah, never mind.

Remember the last post... when it was 32°F. Now it's 30°F, but there's no sign of the fog. Too bad we're not going anywhere.

let's have some cookies
.

32°F

That's more like it. Though I'm not sure I like the word fog that went with it.

Speaking of words; the local rag reports:

The most popular word of the year 2011, measured by online searches, was "pragmatic."

Oops, sorry... that's from the editor

Also today's online newspaper has four articles pertaining to the possible eruption of either of our two most prominent geological formations, Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen. It seems there's either a one in three or one in four chance of that happening in our lifetime.
Does the local want to put a damper on our holiday celebration?
I may go back and actually read the articles when we get home from our jaunt to Grass Valley

see ya
.

Newer post

It's reached 70°F (21°C)... on the way to a predicted 67°F. Go figure...

time to break out the Speedo and go for a swim

in your dreams
.

Say, what?

It's not that the temperature is so unusual, it's that the Sun isn't even up yet. That's usually the high for the day at this time of year.
Time to break out the aloha shirts again?

probably back later
.

Ramblings

They were right.
The weather guys, that is.
By noon yesterday the Sun was shining and by 2pm all the clouds were on the horizon. There was almost a tenth of an inch of rain here. (Other parts of the valley had as much as a quarter inch)

Time to get started on the cookies. I don't dare start too soon or there'll be none left for when they're needed. Trader Joe's has some that are really close. But I don't think I could deal with the guilt of repackaging.

I'm really not totally disappointed the weather's turned nice again. It means we can try something new we haven't done before. Instead of meeting my grandson and his parents at their home in Sacramento. We'll go to Grass Valley, which is in the foothills northeast of Sacramento (or about 20 miles east of where we went the weekend before last).
Grass Valley was established in 1851 at the height of the California Gold Rush. There's some kind of period Christmas celebration there. That's our secondary purpose for going... family being the first.
We'll have to see if the camera gets a workout.

I never did get around to the Christmas cards this year. It seems like they've been home-made (on the computer) for a long time. Ever since the printer for the 'old computer' started crapping out, I haven't been able to do much of anything beyond designing a card. I can't seem to get the fancy all-in-one printer to sync with the current desktop and do what I want it to do. There's a computer repair place in Cottonwood I've heard will repair printers. We'll have to check that out.
Meanwhile I suppose we can email a pdf to those we normally send cards and beg forgiveness?

being cheap has nothing to do with it
.

I don't think this is going to shut the weatherman up

So...
There was a little rain overnight and it's still overcast... but the Sun's supposed to come back out later. The may have been a whole tenth of an inch. On the plus side, it meant that the overnight temp was never below 40.
But...
I can hear the forecaster on TV tonight insisting we're going to have to work harder to bring the precipitation levels up to "normal."

their attitude leaves
something to be desired
.

I'm making up for it now

Sometimes I'm inspired by a post on another blog. Other times I'm frustrated because I can't quite connect. That happened recently... and about a month an a half ago. A couple of bloggers, who appear over on the sidebar, posted about some of the old TV shows they grew up with.

My frustration is because as youngsters, my brother and I had restrictions placed upon our television watching. Specifically, we were not allowed to watch on school nights. That meant we only saw shows that were on from the time we got home from school until dinner time and the stuff that was on Friday and Saturday. That meant we really learned to hate Lawrence Welk and I got to hear a lot of shows while doing homework in my bedroom. The purpose for this restriction was so My brother and I would concentrate on our studies, get good grades and go to college. My sisters came along ten and twelve years later. They didn't have those same restrictions. They both have degrees. Neither my brother, nor I have degrees... just deprived childhoods.

poor me

Roadside photo op

_

what would you call it?
.

They're back

Maybe if the it stops freezing at night the little fellers will stop coming inside? They're not really even as big as the one in the image. They don't seem to like daylight.

Yesterday the local weather guy kept telling viewers we are about three and a quarter inches below normal in rainfall... like it was our fault and we should do something about it!

The tree went up yesterday

Going to bake some cookies... not today, I have a meeting to attend... not tomorrow... maybe Wednesday. Then I hope they'll last until I can deliver some on Sunday.

The lights on the outside went up last week. We have this neat plug-in that turns them on for 6 hours each day. It's design specifically for temporary outdoor light installations. What it means is I can forget about the lights until it's time to take them down.

maybe we should
do a rain dance?
.

Following on from yesterday

I just checked. The frost is no longer on my neighbor's roof. So I probably won't freeze when I go outside. It is no warmer today than it was yesterday.
GS and I went to the tree lot yesterday and selected a nice fir.
We will probably put it up in the usual corner today. My first clue was when I saw that everything else had been removed from the corner already.

This year we have no plans for spontaneous trips north to deliver birthday gifts. It's almost too bad because the weather is almost conducive to travel... at this moment.
Umm! Did someone say freezing fog... never mind. I'll stick with the frozen sunshine.

Next Sunday we head south for the day.

yippee!
.

Good morning!

Random thoughts

I had an idea for a bacon post, then thought better of it. I'm not even sure I should post a link

IMHO, it's the worst of 27, but that's only my opinion

Maybe it's been mentioned here... or over here... that I like quotes, humorous ones in particular. What hasn't been mentioned is I don't care whose quotes they are.

"An 'American tradition' is anything that happened to a Baby Boomer twice"
- xkcd

"There's nothing worse than waking to find that the water bed has sprung a leak other than the realisation that you haven't got a water bed."
- John May

...or if they're original
.

Everybody had a Christmas tree story

We used to trek into the mountains each year to chop down cut our Christmas tree. It involved several steps. First, we had to contact the Forest Service Office in the forest where we were going to cut the tree to purchase a permit. I'm guessing U.S. Forest Service offices are a little like pizza franchises that are very protective of their territories. Next, we'd coordinate with others who were going tree hunting in the same forest so we could kind of make it into a cold weather picnic. Then, I'd make a big batch of chili and make sure the camp stove had fuel and would fire up. Someone else would take care of the liquid refreshments (hot chocolate for the kids, something a little stronger for some adults).

On the day of this particular hunt... we always call them Christmas tree hunts... the group all gathered in Millville because that was what made the most sense at the time. Then we all piled into our vehicles and drove east on Highway 44 past Lassen National Park to an area that was open for tree cutting.

While the other went off into the woods, I sent up the camp stove and heated the chili. The pot needed to be tended so that it could be stirred regularly to prevent burning. Grandma Skip and the two girls, along with the other ten folks traipsed around following logging roads, all looking for the perfect tree. Now that I think about it, they were probably perfectly happy I wasn't helping find a tree because I'm not all that picky. My criteria is that only about one-third of the tree needs to look good because the tree's going to be in the corner anyway.

After some time I heard them returning. They were laughing and frolicking in the snow. [There wasn't much snow, but enough to make me glad I didn't live there.] They were dragging the tree, holding it by the top, back to our staging area. It was a good looking tree despite the abuse. Slowly the others returned with their trees and they were loaded onto various vehicles while we all enjoyed chili and hot chocolate (or adult beverages).

For some reason... probably because of space limitations... it was decided out tree would travel on another vehicle, at least as far as Millville. We tied it to the roof of someone's vehicle. The others began to leave while we packed up the chili pot and the camp stove. Then we were on our way, too.

At some point between Viola and Shingletown we found the caravan of vehicles stopped alongside the highway. Initially we thought they were getting some mistletoe from a roadside oak. But it turned out that one of the trees... ours... had escaped from the roof of the vehicle transporting it to Millville. After re-securing the tree, which still looked pretty good, they took off again. Meanwhile, the mistletoe seemed like a good idea so we snagged some and were on our way again.

Eventually we found ourselves in the driveway of our friends in Millville and saw the trees leaning against the fence, not much the worse for wear. Then, just as I was parking, the family dog came into sight, raised his leg, and christened our tree.

We arranged to have somebody with a pickup truck take it the rest of the way to our house and then we gave it a nice bath and a good airing before bringing the tree inside.

we waited a full
year before telling
anyone this story
.

Remembering

The first time I was at Pearl Harbor the only monuments were the sunken hulks of the USS Arizona and USS Utah. But the Navy tour was terrific. The next time I was there, a collection had been started to build the memorial and I didn't take the tour because I was in the Navy.
These photos are from the last time I was there a year ago. The memorial is almost finished, but the tour isn't nearly as good.

The winds have left

We are left with cool chilly early mornings... not that the afternoons are any great shakes.

I actually went so far as to break out the outdoor lights. I was going to put them up, but I'm not so sure the ladder is up to the task.

I think I should sort through the CDs to start playing them... then maybe I will get more into the mood for baking the ginger snaps. I already checked to see that we have all of the ingredients.

The gifts for two of the grandsons are purchased... the two that we'll hand-deliver. We have no idea what to get for the grandchildren to whom we have to ship gifts.

I have a Christmas tree story I'm working on

may even finish it this year
.

How am I doing?

I was going to post about my efforts to remain positive...

...then I received this joke in an email

A young Naval Officer was in a terrible car accident, but due to the heroics of the hospital staff, the only permanent injury was the loss of one ear. Since he wasn't physically impaired he remained in the military and eventually became an Admiral. However, during his career he was always sensitive about his appearance.

One day the Admiral was interviewing two Navy Master Chiefs and a Marine Sergeant Major for his personal staff.

The first Master Chief was a Surface Navy type and it was a great interview. At the end of the interview the Admiral asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?"

The Master Chief answered, "Why yes sir. I couldn't help but notice you are missing your starboard ear, so I don't know whether this impacts your hearing on that side." The Admiral got very angry at this lack of tact and threw him out of his office.

The next candidate, an Aviation Master Chief, when asked this same question, answered, "Well yes sir, you seem to be short one ear." The Admiral threw him out also.

The third interview was with the Marine Sergeant Major. He was articulate, extremely sharp, and seemed to know more than the two Master Chiefs put together. The Admiral wanted this guy, but went ahead with the same question. " Do you notice anything different about me?"

To his surprise the Sergeant Major said, "Yes, sir. You wear contact lenses."

The Admiral was impressed and thought to himself, what an incredibly tactful Marine. "And how do you know that?" the Admiral asked.

The Sergeant Major replied, "Well sir, it's pretty hard to wear glasses with only one f@#$in' ear."

I only made one minor adjustment

.

Three days

...and some wind


Right now

Probably would've happened quicker if it wasn't so well protected by other trees. Yet, interestingly enough, we saw some other trees standing in the open with all... or most, anyway... of their leaves still on.

nature!

.

About those last two posts

I couldn't just slip off and not leave something.
Demographic is my political affiliation.
The picture montage is from a blogger who posts on the local daily's website.
I don't have anything to post about the time "down south" other than I wish I'd thought to take a video of the lighted animated Christmas display directly across the street road from where the meetings were held.

Ooh, ooh... wait.

There was a really, really interesting presentation on the history of bugling after dinner on Saturday night.

maybe we need
a music category?

Last Sunday morning

When did I sign up for it?

I'm a demographic.

who's my presidential candidate
.

The view from my window

Right now.

I'm off to a memorial service in a few minutes.
Then it's time to pack for a weekend trip to a Lions District Cabinet Meeting in the southeast corner of the district... so it's an overnighter.
I've managed to become a presenter at one of the training sessions tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately for the audience I won't be working alone. Sunday's kind of a mystery.

On the plus side

So I moaned about the wind a little.

It harkens to the days when I worked in the service sector. Nothing, not even a full Moon, affected folks moods more than the wind. The most cheerful customers turned into the worst grumps after a couple of hours of the wind blowing. To make matters worse, the Weather Service has issued a High Wind Advisory, also known as a small car warning. I'm not going to fuss too much because it's been worse further south.

What all of this means is that the sky is absolutely clear and the outside temperature has remained at 50 degrees.

maybe stay inside?