CHILDRN MAKE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.

Having children discovering the magical myths of Christmas makes it special. These cards show the joy that children bring to the season.
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What I was most struck with as I rummaged through my card collection, is the absence of people of color. Jesus was a Jew in an Arabic nation. Probably brown-skinned. Yet he is always portrayed with white skin and blue eyes.


The second thing that struck me is almost all cards depict snow. It is tough to find a Christmas card outdoor scene without snow.
And, this unusual 1945 card shows the other side of Christmas, those less fortunate, cold and forlorn during this munificent celebration.

Generous people, be reminded of your food bank donations, or service club jacket, blanket or toy collections. Most of us with computers have all we need. Did I read that seven homeless people died in San Francisco because of this cold snap?

POINSETTIAS AT CHRISTMAS.

At one time, the poinsettias only connection with Christmas was their appealing bright red color. They were rare, especially in Northern climes. Now, poinsettias are as common as the Christmas tree. They have been hybridized to be perfectly formed and multicolored. Their color lingers and cheers me all through the gray days of winter.
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This is a quilt block.
As a theme, I think the artists and photographers did them justice.

THINGS WE CAN DO WITHOUT.

Things we can do without, for starters, is a broken septic system pipe at my rental. The pipe originally installed 35 years ago, was not the proper type of pipe or it most likely wouldn’t have leaked. The slope is narrow and difficult to work with heavy equipment. The shovel holds the back wheels off the ground so the bucket has balance on this upslope.


What appeared to be a seven-foot area of pipe to remove turned out to be 60 feet of pipe instead, plus the loss of three trees.


The guys take a break, my brother Clark’s father-in-law to be, left, my son Doug behind him and Clark. Without my family I wouldn’t be able to afford this rental. They give me the reduced “family price”.


I spent most of the day in Angels Camp on errands. I’m still having neck pain and I have a therapeutic massage once a week. Each time I think is the last one.  Then to the eye doctor to pick up my glasses. I love his clever sign.


To the jewelry store to have my rings cleaned. They sell ceramic fish for a charity and I always like to find a right facing fish. My friend Dave Wilson has a theory that all fish sculptures are done facing left.  He is almost correct. Right facing fish are rare.  It is silly, but I find it fun to give him a poke.


I came home to a limping wild turkey next to my driveway. In fact the turkeys were feeding on the green vegetation at the leak. My renter noticed and contacted me or I wouldn’t have noticed it. I suspect this bird will be coyote or cougar lunch within a couple of days.


I got home by 3:00 to meet my friend, Sharon. She brought a bottle of Black Sheep Merlot, and told me she went to lunch with a friend and when they got out of the restaurant, her friend’s car was missing. They called the Sheriff and reported the brand new Jeep Cherokee, stolen. Later that evening, she let me know that Wendy’s husband came for the car, couldn’t find her, and drove the car home. We laughed, and the reason he did it was reasonable in the end, but it was not funny at the time. Today, the plumber comes to put a new valve in my gas heater.  Why does this stuff happen at Christmas time? Maybe we all get a little nuts around the holidays.

CHRISTMAS CARD COLLECTION

My septic system had a huge tree grown into it and the fix yesterday, I'm hoping will be completed today.

I have yet to send a single Christmas card and I must admit Christmas card exchanges are more and more sent by email. December turned out to be full of distractions and unusual events. But, as a collectiholic, I will never be without beautiful Christmas cards.

When I was growing up, Christmas cards had themes, the candle lit window, the wreath at the door, carolers, stockings by the chimney, children playing in the snow, overflowing mailboxes...

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I'll find another theme for tomorrow.

BUSY TIME OF YEAR.

Christmas is a busy enjoyable time and if I ran the world, I’d stop all those pesky things during the holidays, like funerals, frozen pipes, and a leaking septic system pipe. (Being fixed today… )



I’d also have pesky snow gone, gone, gone by now. Still hanging around in spits and spots. Today, today, snow, be gone!

I took time out from my tasks for a walk. The weather was beautiful and sunny at 63 degrees.
One real treat was spotting a woodpecker I didn’t recognize. Those red-headed pileated woodpeckers are common around here. This one had an orange head, thicker in the neck than his red-headed cousins. The wing feathers were striped black and white like a herring bone suit. Beautiful!!
But, raise the camera, and flit! Gone.

I guess I have to quit complaining about the lingering snow if mother nature also brings me the joy of a beautiful bird.

A POEM A DAY.

In October, my friend Monica Rose emailed she had a poem  accepted by www.yourdaily poem. I subscribed and now I get a poem in my mailbox every day. Most are copyrighted and not for republishing. I like copying those I find exceptional into a document file to read over for my own pleasure. Sometimes one will be in the public domain like this one by D.H. Lawrence:

DECEMBER NIGHT

Take off your cloak and your hat
And your shoes, and draw up at my hearth
Where never woman sat.

I have made the fire up bright;
Let us leave the rest in the dark
And sit by firelight.

The wine is warm in the hearth;
The flickers come and go.
I will warm your feet with kisses

Until they glow.

I didn't know much about D.H. Lawrence. The site had a short biography I found interesting as well:

David Herbert Richards Lawrence (1885 – 1930) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, critic, playwright, and painter. The son of a miner and a school teacher, Bert (as he was called) grew up in extreme poverty and suffered from poor health. Although he loved to read, he was not a particularly good student. He did, however, manage to win a high school scholarship and became a teacher before success as a writer allowed him to pursue that career fulltime. Accused more than once of spying for the Germans, Bert eventually left his home country to travel the world with his wife. The Lawrences intended to settle in America, but problems with his health forced them to return to Europe; Lawrence died in France at the age of 45. A prolific writer who produced work in multiple genres, Lawrence is best known as a novelist, although he wrote more than 800 poems and was considered an extremely gifted travel writer. Public opinion during his lifetime and even till today paints him as either utterly profane and depraved or as a brilliant and creative genius.

YOU DECIDE

I am hoping to get some Christmas cards out today.

AN IMPROMPTU VISIT.

My son Ken and his wife, Laurie stopped in with their two little dachshunds for  an hour to play in the snow. They went out and threw snowballs and watched the dogs discover  "cold white stuff." We had a brew and a chat.  A nice interlude. Even nicer because Ken has not lived in this county since he graduated from Bret Harte High School in 1979. I really like the idea that my kids live close enough to casually stop by.  All but one, Kristanne, who will stay in Las Vegas, at least until her son graduates high school.
I spent part of the day going through old picture albums and travel scrapbooks, with some Christmas carols playing, and  a cuppa warm cider for my trip down memory lane.


On my machine, I have "scrapbooks" too. I found this one of  lighting the tree from 2011.


And this one of Laurie and Kristanne sharing a glass of wine.  Kristanne and Virginia and their families will be missing this year, so we've planned a get together that everyone can attend in January.
Even when you are retired, weekends are special. It is easier to relax and enjoy the season. Hey, am I getting to rocking chair age? Or what?   I'm, lovin' every minute of it.

IT MADE ME CRY.

My garage is narrow and when I load anything into my car, I pull out on the driveway first. I nearly slipped on the ice and decided to shovel off my driveway. I managed to get two wheel tracks and space on the passenger side, anyway.


I tossed the ice chunks as far to the left on ground that had already melted everything off. Hopefully today, what I shoveled will be melted. I found out very quickly that shoveling snow is not a job I'll try again. I don't own a snow shovel and never had to shovel in the 35 years I've lived in the Motherlode.


I let  my stove go cold and emptied ashes at the end of the day. I was feeling very accomplished by getting a number of paperwork chores, phone calls, and  then a good physical workout. But, this morning, in my email, came a Christmas story by Bob Welsh. It made me cry.
I suppose women are more emotional then men. I know when my oldest son was young I'd recommend a book and he'd say "Will it make me cry? I don't want one of those books that will make me cry."
 So, here is a video that made ME cry. It is from a veteran Highway Patrol Officer who served 29 years.
&http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxjZB5S_g7s&feature=youtu.benbsp;

TECHNICAL GREATS AND FLAWED FOOD.

Jim and I do not accept advertising on our blogs. We don’t get paid to blog, we do it because we like traveling and blogging about our travels. But, I’m not against reporting good or bad experiences with products we use or businesses we’ve encountered.
TECH 108, a computer fix-it shop is unique because they charge a flat price of $60 to fix your problem. If it needs parts or something more is involved, they diagnose and let you know the bad news right then and there at the counter.  We call them Geeks, people who can jump on your computer and in minutes fix your problem. Their philosophy appears to be most fixes are easy,  and thus they charge a fair price. They sell used laptops for $150 with a guarantee. You can bring in your old one and sell it and when you buy  a used machine, you know it is in tip-top shape. Really nice people. The young technician  on the right helping a customer,  hardly had time to take a breath between customers.  I arrived close to closing time and I’ll be able to pick up my computer today with my pictures back on an external hard drive. He also places a lifetime security system, it is free,  on your computer that is better  than anything you can buy. They are located in Jamestown, five minutes West of Sonora on Highway 108, just past Rolling Hills Rd. Thus the name, TECH 108. They came highly recommended to me by four different people. So, if you need help, this is the place to come.

To diss a great company like Kellogg’s pains me. Mr. Kellogg would be appalled at what the corporate owners of the great cereal he started as a health food turned out to be. This cereal, Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Crunch, is NOT a healthy food to eat. It is junk food though they unashamedly advertise it as a healthy way to start the day. NOT!  It has five different types of sugar, not counting the sweet raisins. You know the jingle, “…two scoops of raisins in every box…” Let me list them for you:
The second ingredient is sugar. Then it is brown sugar syrup, corn syrup, molasses, and honey.  In one cup of cereal you get 19 grams of sugar. I obviously didn’t read the label before I bought it.I opened it and I tried to eat it. I’ve mixed it with oatmeal, both raw and cooked, and grape nuts plus oatmeal and plain bran with unsweetened applesauce to mitigate the sweetness.  Nope. It is like eating sugar out of a package.Karen and I are filling up a box to take to the food bank. My cereal box has two bags, one unopened.  I debated about passing it on. I finally told Karen I was going to dump it in the compost heap. She said, no. Children are hungry and it is food. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to feed their kids this dose of sugar.
She said, “They eat candy with no vitamins at all.” I relented and it is going to the food bank. But, I’m going to eat Moms Best or Post Raisin Bran and never support with my food dollars another  Kellogg product.

PICTURES DISASTER.

Yesterday, I went to my friend Anne Williams' Inurnment. I always carry a camera and I took pictures of the event. Loaded them into my computer and erased them from my camera last night.
I had been promising myself to get rid of 18,000 pictures I have on my computer with the idea to unload some storage space and speed up my computer. I thought I would erase the back-up file. Unfortunately, it wasn't a back-up file.  Everything I hadn't already loaded into a cloud album disappeared.

No pictures today, just curses, and sad regrets. That's what happens to people like me who aren't  technically sharp. One can never recreate an event. My apologies to Anne's sons, Bill and Steve, Tyna, her caretaker, Mr. Donlevy from Elks Club, who often helped Tyna with mechanical problems, Steven, a friend, who played guitar and sang Country Roads, a song Anne and her husband, Fred, both loved; Lonnie and Bart, who helped Anne and Tyna with their vehicles, drove them places, and gave so willingly of their time; several friends from the Tuolumne County Museum and Genealogy society where Anne volunteered for 20 years, Mike who brought his elderly mother, a devoted friend who braved the cold, and ice to attend; and Mike, who wrote a poem about Anne. I didn't know everyone who attended nor get everyone's name,  but her reach to young and old was touching. She was a young 89-year-old.

Tyna brought to the site a picture board, and displayed her favorite books, some from childhood, and a favorite bracelet that had been stolen from her and returned. Some ceramics she made, a quilt she made, paintings and drawings she did. All things representing her many talents and personality. It was lovely.